Overview

What is myofunctional therapy?

Myofunctional therapy (also called orofacial myofunctional therapy or OMT) trains muscles in your mouth and face to move as they should and rest in the proper positions. It involves doing certain exercises with your cheeks, tongue or lips. These exercises strengthen your muscles and finetune your awareness of facial movements (proprioception).

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OMT treats orofacial myofunctional disorders (OMDs). OMDs are abnormal muscle movement patterns in your mouth and face that affect how you breathe, chew, swallow and/or speak.

Healthcare providers use myofunctional therapy to help people with OMDs, but it’s a growing area of research. This means providers are still learning more about optimal techniques for different conditions and how long you should do this therapy to have the most benefits. Despite the need for more research, it’s clear from existing studies that OMT is safe and has no known risks.

What can orofacial myofunctional therapy help me with?

OMT aims to help all the different parts of your mouth area — your jaws, lips, teeth and tongue — smoothly work together as a unit. Healthcare providers sometimes use OMT to manage:

Mouth breathing. This means you can’t take in enough air through your nose, despite adequate treatment for any nasal obstructions. Mouth breathing can lead to sleep disorders and affect your overall health.
Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). This is a form of sleep-disordered breathing that involves soft tissues in your head and neck pressing on your windpipe. This prevents you from taking in enough air and disrupts your sleep, potentially leading to serious complications.
Open mouth posture. Normally, your lips should come together to form a seal. But an open mouth posture means your mouth remains slightly open at rest, potentially leading to issues with your teeth, jaws and tongue. An open mouth posture can also result in your tongue resting on the floor of your mouth. Your tongue should be lightly suctioned to the roof of your mouth at rest.
Tongue thrust. This issue typically affects children. It’s when your child’s tongue pushes against or between their teeth. This affects their ability to swallow normally or produce certain sounds accurately — like s,z,t,d and n. It can also affect how their teeth develop.
Clenching or grinding your teeth (bruxism). Keeping your teeth tightly closed too often can damage your teeth and cause headaches or jaw pain.
TMJ disorders. These conditions affect your temporomandibular (TMJ) joints and the muscles and ligaments around them. Over time, TMJ disorders can lead to chronic pain, trouble chewing and other problems.
Recovery from jaw surgery. Some research shows that OMT can help improve your ability to chew foods after having jaw surgery.
Recovery from surgery to release tongue ties (lingual frenectomy). OMT can be used to stretch the tongue muscles after surgery to get a better range of motion for eating and making sounds.

What age is OMT for?

OMT is designed for school-aged children (4 years old and up), adolescents and adults. It’s not appropriate for babies and toddlers because it requires understanding and following specific directions. Your provider or your child’s provider can tell you more about OMT and how it might help.

Procedure Details

What happens during a myofunctional therapy session?

OMT can involve a wide variety of exercises designed to strengthen your mouth and facial muscles. Your myofunctional therapist will create a plan specific to your needs. Things you might do during an OMT therapy session include:

Sing
Play a wind instrument
Do breathing exercises
Lift or extend your tongue in specific ways
Hold a small object between your lips

How long will I need this treatment?

How long you need OMT depends on the condition it’s treating. According to the Academy of Orofacial Myofunctional Therapy, treatment typically lasts six to 12 months. You may need more or less time depending on your situation.

Your provider will tell you how many days per week you should do therapy and how long each session will last. You may do some sessions with your provider and some on your own at home.

What type of provider does myofunctional therapy?

Healthcare providers with special training in orofacial myofunctional disorders (OMDs) perform myofunctional therapy. Speech-language pathologists, occupational therapists and dental hygienists are just some examples of the types of providers who complete such training.

Some providers earn certifications through professional societies like the Academy of Orofacial Myofunctional Therapy or the International Association of Orofacial Myology. Such certifications show your provider has completed rigorous training and stays current in the field by doing continuing education tasks. Specific credentials you might see after your provider’s name include:

Certified orofacial myofunctional therapist (COMT®).
Certified orofacial myologist (COM®).

Providers who do OMT typically work closely with other specialists, like oral surgeons, otolaryngologists and sleep medicine specialists. Together, these providers create a treatment plan that meets your unique needs.

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Risks / Benefits

What are the potential benefits of orofacial myofunctional therapy?

OMT may help:

Make it easier for you to breathe through your nose, chew foods and/or speak clearly.
Improve your lip or tongue positioning to support your teeth alignment and oral health.
Support your recovery from jaw surgery.
Support the goals of orthodontic treatment.
Reveal whether or not you need speech therapy (which, unlike OMT, focuses specifically on speaking and language skills).
Boost your self-confidence.

Most research on OMT focuses on how it might help people with obstructive sleep apnea, particularly when used in addition to other sleep apnea treatments. According to a recent study, there’s evidence that OMT may:

Make your nighttime breathing problems less severe
Help you feel less sleepy during the day
Help you take in more oxygen while sleeping
Reduce how often you snore
Offer an alternative or supplement to CPAP use

What are the risks or complications of OMT?

OMT has no known risks. Your provider can tell you more about what to expect and if there are any drawbacks in your specific situation.

When To Call the Doctor

When should I call my healthcare provider?

Contact your healthcare provider if you want to learn more about OMT or how it might help you. If you’re doing therapy, reach out any time you have questions or concerns about your treatment plan.

A note from Cleveland Clinic

Think fast: How many times do you swallow per day? Breathe in through your nose? Open your mouth to speak? It’s hard to come up with a number because these processes are so automatic — and so frequent — that you barely think about them. Unless, of course, you have a condition that makes seemingly simple movements a lot harder than they should be.

Myofunctional therapy is one approach to treating facial muscle issues that might keep you from enjoying a full range of motion or taking in enough air while you sleep. Your provider can tell you more about whether this therapy is worth a try in your specific situation.

Medically Reviewed

Last reviewed on 12/30/2024.

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Myofunctional Therapy