Spokane Myofunctional Therapy

11/25/2025

11/25/2025

Prolonged thumb sucking can significantly impact dental alignment. The habit exerts pressure on the teeth and jaws, which can cause:

* Misalignment: The constant pressure can push the front teeth outward, preventing them from meeting properly.

* Jaw Development Issues: It may interfere with the normal growth patterns of the jaws, leading to skeletal discrepancies.

Young children over 3 or 4 years old can benefit from Orofacial Myofunctional Therapy. This is a great time to eliminate binky and thumb sucking habits to prevent poor oral development and malocclusion (anterior openbite).

The focus is growth and prevention. We have loads of fun making music and playing oral motor games.

Red Flags for this age:
Oral sensory seeking or avoidance
Finger, thumb or binkie sucking
Picky eating
Chimpmunking food in cheeks or spitting out food
Taking a long time to eat
Tummy aches
Excessive gagging
Drooling
Poor sleep
Bruxism (grinding)
Snoring
Mouth breathing
Chronic nasal congestion
High palate
Crowding teeth/Misaligned bite
Excessive cavities
Dental wear
Tongue Tie
Large tonsils

11/18/2025

Call or message me 509-362-6267 to learn about how to improve nasal breathing and sleep with adult orthodontics!

The following case is provided with Scott Family Orthodontics - Spokane, WA and Spokane Myofunctional Therapy.

My patient has a 10mm increase in her palate without jaw surgery!

Myofunctional Therapy along with orthodontic treatment utilizing an appliance for adults called a MARPE, (which increases the palate’s width and subsequently increases the pharyngeal airway), results in huge improvements in breathing and sleep.

Utilizing a MARPE appliance in adults avoids undesirable tooth movement and attains greater bone expansion while minimizing dental side effects.

11/14/2025

11/11/2025

The American Dental Hygienists' Association (ADHA) supports the role of dental hygienists in screening of all ages for airway health, including conditions like obstructive sleep apnea, (OSA). This is considered an integral part of comprehensive patient care, as airway health is connected to oral health, growth, and disease prevention.

11/08/2025

11/02/2025

Exciting research on new protocols and improved outcomes for tongue tie releases (frenectomies). Orofacial Myofunctional Therapy (OMT) before and after is essential for success as well as choosing a provider that is knowledgeable in functional frenectomies. OMT is not just oral motor exercises, it's an individualized program tailored to normalize oral function and breathing.

Congratulations to Soroush Zaghi, MD and The Breathe Institute team on publishing their 2025 update on lingual frenuloplasty (tongue-tie release with sutures) outcomes.

They originally reported a retrospective analysis of 445 patients treated in conjunction with myofunctional therapy in 2019 - a groundbreaking foundation for the field.

This new prospective study of 445 patients aged 4 years and older builds on that work with several key refinements:

✅ Standardized pre- and postoperative myofunctional therapy protocol with readiness assessments to ensure consistent preparation and rehabilitation of tongue and orofacial muscles.
✅ Functional mobility endpoints - the Tongue Range of Motion Ratio (TRMR) and Floor of Mouth (FOM) Hold Maneuver - used to improve diagnosis, guide surgical planning, and determine adequacy of release.
✅ Preserving more fascia and a transition from scissors only to assistance with a LightScalpel CO₂ laser for greater surgical precision, visualization, bleeding control, and less complications.
✅ Use of a tissue glue and reduced sutures for enhanced wound stability, bleeding control, and improved wound healing.

This infographic compares and summarises the results as their approach has evolved.

The field continues to progress through the pioneering work of this team, collaboration with myofunctional therapy, and ongoing innovation in assessment and technique.

These releases are a very gratifying part of my work, and it is very inspiring to see how we can keep learning and evolving to achieve even better outcomes for our patients.

Read the full details of this study here:
https://www.mdpi.com/2694-2526/51/2/11 #

11/01/2025

Happy Halloween! 🎃