We work to ensure children’s muscles around their face and jaw are working properly, helping your child avoid problems down the track.
Most orofacial myology problems are developed at a young age, when children are developing rapidly. It’s important to make sure the muscles around the face and jaw are working properly at this age to avoid problems as they grow. Addressing any issues or disorders of the orofacial region that you may notice in your children is the best way to ensure these problems don’t become more complicated with age.
With the help of orofacial myology, your children can be on their way to a happy, healthy future, without the need for invasive treatments or surgery.
The most common issues we see in children are:
Open mouth posture
Poor posture
Crooked and crowded mouths
Incorrect chewing function
Altered speech patterns
Asymmetrical appearance of the face or lips
Uneven function of the face or lips (eg, chewing on one side of the mouth)
Tongue thrusting (an incorrect swallowing pattern)
Incorrect tongue rest position
Painful ears when flying
You may wonder what’s causing these issues. There are many reasons why these issues occur and these can include:
Mouth breathing
Sucking on thumbs, fingers, a dummy or blankets
Nail biting
Cheek and lip biting
Chewing clothes
Enlarged tonsils or adenoids
Nasal blockages
A narrow or vaulted palate
A large tongue
Allergies that restrict the airway
Structural or physiological abnormalities such as a restrictive lingual frenum (tongue-tie)
Neurological or developmental abnormalities
Some people may have a hereditary predisposition to some of the factors listed above.
How can we help?
We take a holistic approach to treating your child's health issues. We’re not interested in band-aid solutions. Instead, we spend time identifying your child’s unique muscle function and where this needs to be optimised. Then, we can commence work on training these muscles to function properly, which allows the facial structure to grow and develop correctly.
We will work with you and your child on things like:
Training the muscles to function properly
Focusing on chewing and swallowing with correct motor patterns
Simple exercises that focus on tongue, lip and facial posture
Fun and friendly programs that help your child to break a thumb-sucking habit
Each child’s program is tailored to their specific needs. We try to make exercises fun and easy to incorporate into their daily routines.
Wherever it’s necessary, we will work with other health specialists to ensure our treatment enhances their work. This may include paediatricians, dentists, speech pathologists, ENT specialists or respiratory physicians to name just a few.
Timeframes for treatment range from six to nine months, with treatment frequency occurring approximately every three weeks. Depending on your child’s issue, you may see results fairly quickly (for example, facial changes can be noticed in the first couple of months) however it may take a while longer to see genuine change. The most important thing to remember is that we are working together towards a long-term solution.