Orofacial Myofunctional Therapy

Tongue posture can change with training. Myofunctional therapy may reduce relapse risk after structural airway procedures by retraining functional airway behavior. Orofacial myofunctional therapy performs roughly equivalently to CPAP, with CPAP holding a slight edge. Myofunctional therapy is not presented as a cure-all. A structural component may be present if foundational movement work, head and hyoid work, mandibular protrusion training, and myofunctional therapy do not resolve the issue. Myofunctional therapy uses exercises to teach tongue placement on the roof of the mouth. Tongue control is described as a major factor in airway and jaw mechanics. After positional limitations are addressed, practitioners should determine whether the person has the motor skill to place and maintain the tongue on the palate. Structural changes may fail to hold if neuromuscular contributors are ignored. Some people may lack tongue-on-palate ability because they never learned it or had limitations such as tongue tie. Myofunctional therapy can also address swallowing and related oral functions. Myofunctional therapy is proposed when positional limitations have been addressed but tongue posture rema…