Myofunctional therapy addresses how the tongue, lips, jaw and surrounding muscles function—not simply how strong they are. Understanding these patterns can be important when evaluating breathing habits, speech, chewing, swallowing and oral rest posture.
What Is Myofunctional Therapy?
Myofunctional therapy, also called orofacial myofunctional therapy (OMT), is an individualized approach to improving certain muscle movement patterns, coordination and resting postures involving the mouth and face.
It is commonly used to address orofacial myofunctional disorders (OMDs), which may involve atypical tongue posture, mouth-open resting posture, tongue thrust swallowing patterns and difficulties with related oral functions.
At BreatheWorks, myofunctional therapy is integrated with speech-language pathology and a broader understanding of breathing, speaking, feeding, swallowing and oral function.
Rather than assuming that each symptom represents a separate problem, our clinicians evaluate how different functional patterns may interact.
The goal is not simply to perform tongue exercises. It is to establish appropriate, functional patterns that patients can use consistently in everyday activities.
What Are Orofacial Myofunctional Disorders?
Orofacial myofunctional disorders involve atypical patterns of movement or resting posture affecting the muscles and structures of the face and mouth.
They may include:
- Tongue resting in a low or forward position
- Difficulty maintaining comfortable lip closure
- Tongue thrust during swallowing
- Persistent mouth-open posture
- Inefficient chewing or oral coordination
- Certain speech sound distortions occurring alongside atypical oral function
- Functional concerns identified during dental or orthodontic care
Not everyone with one of these findings has a disorder requiring treatment.
For example, a child who occasionally sleeps with their mouth open during a respiratory infection may not have a persistent orofacial myofunctional disorder.
Similarly, an unusual tongue position does not automatically explain a speech disorder, voice disorder, sleep problem or dental alignment concern.
A comprehensive evaluation helps determine which findings are clinically meaningful.
Why Are Breathing, Speech, Voice, Chewing and Swallowing Connected?
The tongue, lips, jaw and surrounding muscles perform several essential activities throughout the day.
They help us produce speech sounds, vocalize, manipulate food, chew, swallow and maintain oral posture.
These functions share anatomical structures, although each involves different patterns of muscle coordination.
When one functional pattern is atypical, other patterns may also warrant evaluation.
For example, a patient with persistent mouth-open posture may demonstrate low tongue resting posture. Another patient with tongue thrust swallowing may also have particular speech sound distortions.
These patterns can coexist without necessarily having a direct cause-and-effect relationship.
This distinction matters because effective treatment depends on identifying the patient’s actual functional limitations rather than assuming that every symptom has the same underlying cause.
Breathing and oral rest posture
Comfortable nasal breathing is important for normal respiratory function.
Persistent mouth breathing may be related to nasal obstruction, allergies, enlarged tonsils or adenoids, structural differences or habitual patterns.
When a patient cannot breathe comfortably through the nose, exercises designed to encourage nasal breathing cannot resolve the underlying obstruction.
An appropriate airway or medical evaluation may be necessary before, or alongside, functional therapy.
Speech and tongue function
Speech production requires precise coordination of the tongue, lips and jaw.
Some individuals with orofacial myofunctional disorders also demonstrate articulation difficulties, including certain distortions of /s/ and /z/.
However, speech sound errors have many possible causes.
An appropriately trained speech-language pathologist can evaluate speech production and orofacial function together, determine whether the findings are related, and establish an individualized treatment plan.
Chewing and swallowing
Eating requires coordinated movements of the tongue, jaw, lips and cheeks.
Some patients experience difficulty managing food, inefficient chewing or atypical swallowing patterns.
When these concerns occur, an SLP with relevant training may evaluate oral-motor function and swallowing.
More complex feeding or swallowing problems may require additional medical assessment or instrumental swallowing evaluation.
Myofunctional therapy is not a substitute for medically indicated dysphagia treatment.
Tongue posture and orthodontic care
Tongue posture and swallowing patterns may be relevant to dental and orthodontic assessment.
In selected cases, orthodontists and dentists collaborate with clinicians trained in OMDs to evaluate functional patterns during or after orthodontic treatment.
However, orthodontic outcomes depend on many factors. Myofunctional therapy should not be represented as a guaranteed method of preventing tooth movement or orthodontic relapse.
What Conditions May Benefit From Myofunctional Therapy?
The appropriateness of therapy depends on the clinical findings, the patient’s goals and the available evidence.
1. Tongue thrust and atypical swallowing patterns
Treatment may address tongue movement and coordination during swallowing when an atypical pattern is clinically significant.
2. Low tongue resting posture
Therapy may help patients develop more appropriate oral rest posture when anatomy, airway function and other factors allow.
3. Persistent mouth-open posture
When nasal obstruction and other medical causes have been evaluated, treatment may address habitual oral posture and related functional patterns.
4. Certain speech-related concerns
When a speech sound disorder occurs alongside relevant orofacial functional findings, integrated speech and myofunctional intervention may be appropriate.
5. Selected orthodontic concerns
Functional therapy may be considered as part of coordinated dental or orthodontic care when an OMD is identified.
6. Sleep-disordered breathing as adjunctive care
Research has examined oropharyngeal and myofunctional exercises for obstructive sleep apnea.
Some studies suggest improvements in selected outcomes, particularly among certain adults. However, evidence varies by population, intervention and outcome, and the role of therapy in children remains less certain.
Myofunctional therapy should not replace appropriate diagnosis or established medical treatment for obstructive sleep apnea.
7. Selected jaw-function concerns
Some patients with jaw discomfort or temporomandibular disorders may also have oral-function patterns that warrant assessment.
Treatment should be coordinated with appropriately qualified dental, medical or rehabilitation professionals when indicated.
What Are the Benefits of Myofunctional Therapy?
Potential benefits depend on the individual patient’s diagnosis and treatment goals.
These may include improvements in:
- Tongue and lip movement coordination
- Oral resting posture
- Swallowing patterns
- Functional chewing behaviors
- Consistency of learned oral-motor patterns
- Specific speech-related functional goals when combined with appropriate speech therapy
- Selected sleep-related measures when used as an adjunct in appropriately evaluated patients
Not all benefits have the same level of research support.
A responsible treatment plan should identify measurable goals and distinguish well-established indications from areas where evidence is still developing.
Why Does an SLP-Led Approach Matter?
Speech-language pathologists receive professional training in speech, language and related communication functions, as well as feeding and swallowing within their scope of practice and clinical competencies.
The structures involved in these activities overlap with those evaluated in orofacial myofunctional therapy.
An SLP with additional specialized OMD training can therefore assess relevant relationships among speech, chewing, swallowing and oral posture rather than treating each concern in isolation.
For example, a child referred for a persistent lisp may also demonstrate atypical tongue resting posture.
An integrated evaluation can identify whether articulation treatment alone is appropriate or whether an associated orofacial functional pattern should also be addressed.
Likewise, a patient with feeding concerns may require assessment of chewing coordination, tongue movement and swallowing function.
Not every SLP has specialized OMD expertise, and other appropriately trained healthcare professionals may provide myofunctional care within their respective professional scopes.
The important considerations are relevant qualifications, clinical competency, appropriate assessment and individualized treatment planning.
What Happens During a Comprehensive BreatheWorks Evaluation?
At BreatheWorks, an evaluation begins with listening—not exercises.
Before determining what to treat, our speech-language pathologists want to understand what the patient is experiencing, when the problem began, how it affects everyday life, what previous evaluations or treatments have revealed, and what the patient hopes to accomplish.
A parent may come to us because their child has a persistent lisp. An adult may be concerned about mouth breathing, difficulty swallowing, jaw discomfort or poor sleep. While these concerns may seem unrelated, they can sometimes involve overlapping patterns of orofacial function.
Our clinicians do not assume those connections exist. We investigate whether they are present and clinically meaningful.
The evaluation combines a detailed case history with relevant observations, functional assessments, patient-reported measures and, where appropriate, standardized testing or dynamic assessment.
Depending on the presenting concern, an appropriately trained clinician may evaluate tongue and lip resting posture, oral movement and coordination, speech production, chewing, swallowing behaviors, breathing patterns and related functional abilities.
Just as importantly, the clinician considers whether the findings explain the patient’s symptoms, whether additional assessment is needed, and whether another healthcare professional should be involved.
The result is not simply a list of abnormal findings or a generic exercise program. It is a clinical interpretation of the patient’s functional needs, with individualized recommendations and measurable goals.
Our objective is to understand the problem before recommending the treatment.
What Does Myofunctional Therapy Involve?
Treatment typically uses structured activities, functional practice and behavioral strategies designed around the patient’s specific needs.
A plan may include:
Tongue posture training: Developing awareness and consistency of appropriate resting posture.
Lip function and coordination: Improving functional lip closure and control when indicated and physiologically appropriate.
Swallowing pattern retraining: Practicing coordinated movements during swallowing.
Functional carryover: Applying learned patterns during ordinary daily activities.
Integrated speech intervention: Addressing articulation or other speech concerns when a co-occurring speech disorder has been identified.
Home practice: Reinforcing specific skills between appointments using an individualized plan.
The exact activities depend on the patient’s age, abilities, functional findings and treatment objectives.
Patients should not assume that generic exercises found online are appropriate for their particular condition.
How Long Does Myofunctional Therapy Take?
Treatment duration varies.
Some patients require a relatively focused intervention, while others need longer periods of skill development and functional carryover.
Factors influencing duration include:
- Age and developmental abilities
- Type and severity of the functional concern
- Presence of airway or structural issues
- Co-occurring speech or swallowing needs
- Frequency of therapy
- Consistency of home practice
- Progress toward measurable goals
Treatment often extends over weeks or months, but there is no universal number of sessions appropriate for every patient.
A qualified clinician should establish realistic expectations after evaluation.
Can Myofunctional Therapy Help Adults?
Yes. Orofacial myofunctional concerns can persist into adulthood or become apparent when patients seek care for other symptoms.
Adults may be evaluated for atypical oral rest posture, swallowing patterns, persistent mouth-open posture or related functional difficulties.
Treatment may also be considered alongside other care when relevant orofacial functional findings are present.
Age alone does not determine whether someone is an appropriate candidate.
Can Myofunctional Therapy Help Children?
Children may benefit when a clinically significant orofacial myofunctional disorder is identified and therapy is appropriate for their developmental level.
Parents sometimes seek evaluation because of persistent mouth-open posture, tongue thrust, articulation concerns, feeding difficulties or observations made by a dentist or orthodontist.
A child should not automatically receive myofunctional therapy solely because one of these symptoms is present.
Evaluation helps identify whether treatment, monitoring or referral is the most appropriate next step.
How Does Myofunctional Therapy Fit With Medical and Dental Care?
Myofunctional therapy is one component of care—not a substitute for medical diagnosis or treatment.
Depending on the patient’s needs, collaborative care may involve:
- An ENT for nasal obstruction or upper-airway concerns
- A sleep physician for suspected sleep-disordered breathing
- A dentist or orthodontist for dental and structural concerns
- A physician for relevant medical conditions
- Other rehabilitation professionals for associated functional issues
For example, a patient with significant nasal obstruction may require medical management before comfortable nasal breathing habits can be established.
A patient with suspected sleep apnea should receive appropriate medical evaluation rather than relying on exercises as the primary treatment.
The BreatheWorks Approach: Treating the Whole Functional Picture
BreatheWorks integrates speech-language pathology and orofacial myofunctional expertise within a comprehensive, individualized approach.
Our clinicians consider the relationships among breathing patterns, oral resting posture, tongue and jaw function, speech, chewing and swallowing when clinically relevant.
A patient may initially seek help for one concern while evaluation identifies other functional patterns worth addressing.
That does not mean every patient needs multiple therapies.
It means treatment recommendations are based on a broader understanding of the patient’s actual functional needs.
When structural, dental, sleep-related or medical concerns require additional expertise, interdisciplinary collaboration is an important part of the care plan.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is myofunctional therapy the same as speech therapy?
No, but the two may overlap. Myofunctional therapy addresses particular orofacial functional patterns, while speech therapy addresses communication and speech disorders. An appropriately trained SLP can integrate both when clinically indicated.
Can myofunctional therapy stop mouth breathing?
It may help address habitual oral posture or breathing-related behaviors in selected patients after relevant airway problems have been evaluated. It cannot correct physical nasal obstruction.
Can myofunctional therapy cure sleep apnea?
Myofunctional therapy is not an established universal cure for sleep apnea. It may serve as adjunctive care in selected patients, but medical evaluation and appropriate sleep apnea treatment remain essential.
Does myofunctional therapy help tongue thrust?
It may help patients develop different tongue movement and swallowing patterns when clinically indicated. Treatment decisions depend on functional assessment.
Can myofunctional therapy help speech problems?
It may be relevant when speech sound difficulties occur alongside an orofacial myofunctional disorder. Speech therapy should directly address the identified speech disorder.
Is myofunctional therapy painful?
Therapy generally involves controlled functional activities rather than painful procedures. Exercises should be individualized, and patients should tell their clinician about discomfort.
How do I know if I need myofunctional therapy?
An evaluation by a qualified clinician can determine whether symptoms reflect a clinically meaningful orofacial myofunctional disorder and whether treatment is appropriate.
Request a Comprehensive Orofacial Myofunctional Evaluation
If you or your child experiences persistent mouth-open posture, tongue thrust, speech-related concerns, chewing difficulties or other suspected orofacial functional problems, a comprehensive evaluation can help identify the next steps.
Contact BreatheWorks to discuss your concerns and request an evaluation with an appropriately trained clinician.
This article is intended for general educational purposes and does not replace individualized medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.
