Myofunctional Therapy WITH Speech Therapy: An effective dual treatment that addresses more than just speech!
Why has my child been in speech for so long? Why isn’t this fixed yet?
We’ve been doing speech therapy but my child still can’t correct that sound! What is going on?
I know that my child has that ‘cute’ lisp when they say their S sounds but they’ll grow out of it, won’t they?
My child’s mouth seems to be open all of the time with their tongue sticking out. I see this in their speech as well. Is this normal?
Have you asked yourself one of these questions before about a child (or adult!) in your life? When it comes to improving communication, breathing, and swallowing, many people think of speech therapy as the go-to solution. But what if there’s another layer to speech and oral health that you might not be considering? Enter myofunctional therapy, a powerful complement to speech therapy that works with the muscles in your mouth and face to PROMOTE BETTER OVERALL FUNCTION. Together, myofunctional therapy and speech therapy form a dynamic duo that can drastically improve communication skills AND oral health. Myofunctional therapy might just be that missing puzzle piece you’ve been looking for that will get your child over the finish line.
So, how exactly do these therapies work together? Let’s explore how myofunctional therapy and speech therapy can go hand in hand to help you reach your goals—whether it’s speaking clearly, breathing better, improving your swallow or supporting proper growth and development of the oral structures (including those teeth!).
What is Myofunctional Therapy?
The Academy of Orofacial Myofunctional Therapy (AOMT) states: Orofacial Myofunctional Disorders (OMDs) are disorders of the muscles and functions of the face and mouth. OMDs may affect, directly and/or indirectly, breastfeeding, facial skeletal growth and development, chewing, swallowing, speech, occlusion, temporomandibular joint movement, oral hygiene, stability of orthodontic treatment, facial esthetics, and more.
Orofacial Myofunctional therapy (OMT) focuses on training and strengthening the muscles of the face, mouth, and jaw. The therapy helps improve muscle tone, position, and function, which in turn can enhance everything from breathing to swallowing to speech.
In very simplistic terms, myofunctional therapy’s primary goal is to get the muscles in your mouth, tongue, and jaw working in the proper way. This can correct issues caused by improper tongue positioning, mouth breathing, or poor swallowing habits. For example, training the tongue to rest against the roof of your mouth rather than pushing against your teeth can help maintain proper dental alignment, shape and form the palate/roof of the mouth and encourage proper nasal breathing. *It is also important to note that there could be underlying structural issues that may need to be addressed by other providers such as ENTs or orthodontists. These structural issues could include enlarged tonsils and adenoids which restrict nasal breathing or a high, narrow palate which restricts proper resting tongue placement.
What is Speech Therapy?
If you’ve visited my website or followed my blogs, you’ve already read a lot about the world of speech and language! Speech and language therapy focuses on helping individuals improve their ability to communicate. Whether it's for someone who stutters, has a lisp, or struggles with articulation, speech therapy is designed to support and remediate speech and language disorders. Don’t forget, speech therapists also work on developing language, literacy and social/pragmatic skills that ALL come together to support clear, effective communication.
Speech therapy involves various exercises and techniques to improve all of the above mentioned areas. Our scope is wide! It’s an essential tool for anyone looking to improve their overall communication patterns, especially for those with known/diagnosed speech or language delays, hearing impairments, or developmental disorders that impact communication.
How Myofunctional Therapy and Speech Therapy Work Together
While myofunctional therapy and speech therapy might seem like two separate practices, they actually overlap in many areas. In fact, they quite often are two very important pieces of a puzzle- you need BOTH in many cases to get to the root of the problem for many communicators. For instance, both therapies can help address issues related to articulation, swallowing, and overall oral muscle function. Here’s how they complement each other:
1. Improved Speech Clarity:
Many speech issues stem from improper muscle use in the mouth. If the tongue rests in the wrong position, or if a person has trouble moving their tongue and lips, it can interfere with the way they speak. Myofunctional therapy focuses on strengthening and re-training the muscles of the mouth to ensure proper strength and muscle function. This, in turn, supports speech clarity and articulation.
For example, children who have difficulty pronouncing certain sounds due to poor tongue posture can benefit from both myofunctional therapy (to reposition/strengthen the tongue) and speech therapy (to achieve proper tongue placement and practice sound production).
2. Correcting Tongue Thrusting:
Tongue thrusting is a condition where the tongue pushes forward against or through the teeth, often during swallowing and/or speaking. This can lead to issues like speech problems (such as a lisp- and after age 4 these are not developmentally appropriate) and dental concerns, like misalignment. Myofunctional therapy is highly effective in correcting tongue thrust by training the muscles of the tongue to function properly and helping the tongue to ‘rest’ in its proper position, up on the roof of our mouths. When combined with speech therapy, the individual can work on improving both the physical muscle habits (via OMT) and the speech sounds that may have been impacted by the improper tongue posture (via speech therapy).
3. Swallowing and Speech Coordination:
Swallowing is another area where myofunctional therapy and speech therapy overlap. Dysfunctional chewing/swallowing patterns (like reverse/immature swallow) can cause and/or perpetuate a tongue thrust which we know can negatively impact speech clarity and may also lead to dental issues. Myofunctional therapy helps correct these swallowing patterns by focusing on proper tongue and muscle placement during swallowing.
When combined with speech therapy, individuals can address both swallowing and speech at the same time, creating a more holistic approach to improving oral and speech function.
Who Can Benefit from Both Therapies?
The combination of myofunctional and speech therapy can benefit a wide range of individuals, including:
Children with Speech or Swallowing Issues: For kids who have trouble with speech articulation, delayed speech development, or tongue thrusting, combining myofunctional therapy with speech therapy can improve both their communication skills and their oral health. This is ESPECIALLY true for those kiddos with long-term articulation challenges that aren’t being corrected with more traditional articulation interventions.
Adults with Speech Disorders or TMJ Issues: Adults who struggle with speech disorders, such as lisps or impaired speech, can also benefit from this dynamic duo. Additionally, those who suffer from temporomandibular joint (TMJ) pain, jaw tension, or poor posture can see improvements by addressing muscle function through myofunctional therapy.
People with Mouth Breathing or Snoring Problems: If you breathe through your mouth, snore at night, or experience sleep apnea, myofunctional therapy can help retrain your muscles for proper nasal breathing, and speech therapy can support proper articulation, which may be impaired due to this open mouth posture.
People with Tethered Oral Tissue: This is more commonly referred to as ‘tongue-ties’ or ‘lip-ties’, where the tissue attaching the tongue, lip or cheeks (frena) is restricting movement. This can often be the root of a long term speech impairment, as well as impacting proper swallowing and breathing. While a procedure can be performed to ‘release’ the tie by a trained dentist, both speech and OMT therapy are often necessary (pre and post procedure), to retrain and strengthen the lips or tongue for proper movement and articulation.
People Undergoing Orthodontic Treatment: If you're in braces or have other dental treatments, myofunctional therapy can help ensure that your muscles work in harmony with your teeth, supporting long-term alignment. Speech therapy can help correct any speech issues caused by misalignment or muscle imbalance.
Why Combining Myofunctional and Speech Therapy Works, Especially for those Persistent, Habituated Sound Errors
The reason why combining these therapies is so effective is simple: both therapies focus on optimizing the function of the muscles in the mouth and face, but they approach it from different angles. Myofunctional therapy focuses on the physical aspects—strengthening and re-aligning the muscles for proper function—while speech therapy addresses how these muscles are used and applied to proper movement for clear and effective communication.
For many children and adults who struggle to remediate their sound errors through more traditional articulation therapy (think of those difficult lisps and R sounds that aren’t fixed after months or even YEARS of therapy!), the combination of these therapies isn’t just useful, it’s imperative and required in order to reach your goals. In many cases, underlying myofunctional disorders are overlooked and undiagnosed for these tough speech sound kiddos! If your oral structures (think lips, tongue, jaw) simply aren’t strong or coordinated enough to achieve proper placement for sound production, then clear articulation will not be achieved until that underlying issue of disordered muscle function is addressed through myofunctional therapy as well.
Conclusion: Using BOTH Speech and Myofunctional Therapy Approaches Might be the Missing Link You’ve Been Searching For
If you or you’re child are struggling with speech difficulties, swallowing issues, tongue thrust/mouth breathing and dental misalignment, myofunctional therapy and speech therapy TOGETHER may be the key. By working together, these therapies create a comprehensive treatment plan that addresses both the physical and functional aspects of oral health and communication.
So, if you’ve been wondering whether these therapies might help you or your child, don’t hesitate to explore their combined benefits. They might just be the perfect duo for your journey to better oral health and clearer communication!
Last Note. . . Can Anyone provide BOTH of these Therapies?
The answer is YES but you need to know what you’re looking for. While you can find great orofacial myofunctional therapists (Certified Orofacial Myofunctional therapists or COMs) with varying backgrounds (some may be dental hygienists, dentists, orthodontists, or PTs), you can often find clinicians (SLPs) trained and experienced in BOTH areas of speech/language AND orofacial myofunctional therapy (I fall in that category!), which is the most beneficial when speech/clear communication is your end goal! Also, it should be noted that Orofacial Myofunctional Disorders do fall under the ‘scope of practice’ of a speech language pathologist (SLP) per the American Speech Language and Hearing Association (ASHA- our accrediting institution). While SLPs are very well trained in the structures and function of the oral mechanism, there is another, deeper level of knowledge to be obtained around myofunctional disorders and interventions, which is very important to have when working with the above mentioned issues. If looking for this combo, just make sure to inquire about the additional experience and training that a speech language pathologist has in the area of OMT to make sure they’re a good fit for you or your child!
If you’re in the Ann Arbor area and are looking for this expertise, please connect with me!