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Oral Habit Elimination in children and adults
Nasal Breathing Therapy
Breathing through your mouth or resting with your lips open can actually change the shape of your face and alter your appearance. People whose mouth breathing goes untreated may suffer from abnormal facial development. Mouth breathing disrupts body mechanics and can lead to a number of other symptoms such as:
- Headaches
- Gingivitis
- Sore Throat
- Cavities
- Poor Sleep
- Snoring
- Nightmares, Sleepwalking
- bedwetting
- Digestive Disturbances-acid reflux
- and more.....
Therapy that will strengthen mouth muscles and help achieve nasal breathing all day and all night, will be recommended, so proper breathing can be achieved.
Oral Habit Elimination
Some common habits such as thumb-sucking, finger sucking and pacifiers are used as forms of self-regulation in children, while nail biting or lip sucking, pen chewing can be common ways to relieve anxiety for adults.
Though these habits may help one relax, they can contribute to changes of the facial muscles and alignment of teeth.
This can cause the tongue to remain in a low-resting position in the mouth which affects breathing, facial development, swallowing, posture and speech.
It is possible to eliminate these habits, and effectively self-regulate, with proper training. This can improve the development and function of mouth, teeth and facial muscles, Oral habit elimination is important for effective orofacial myofunctional therapy.
Tongue Tie Therapy
Tongue tie is when a band of tissue connects the underside of the tongue to the floor is the mouth, keeping it from moving freely. The tissue attached under the tongue is called the frenulum.
Sometimes the frenulum is too short or too tight and may be attached near the front of the tongue and may attach the tip to the floor of the mouth. Tongue tie can range from mild to severe.
There can also be a posterior tongue tie where a thick tight frenulum near the base of the tongue restricts it's motion.
Tongue tie therapy may be necessary treatment for those with a tongue tie.
Tongue Thrust Therapy
Tongue thrust is the habit of pushing your tongue forward, between the upper and lower teeth when swallowing. The proper positioning of the tongue is for the tip to push against the hard palate behind the upper front teeth. Tongue thrust is typically caused by past thumb sucking or extended pacifier use. It may also be due to an undiagnosed tongue tie. Early diagnosis and treatment through myofunctional therapy can correct improper tongue movement