Myo + Ortho = 4EVER!!!

Braces. Kids and parents alike shudder at the thought of them. The few kids who actually get excited about braces have them for a week or less before deciding they now hate them. The last thing anyone wants is to have braces a second time because their teeth shifted. It's just extra time and money that feels wasteful, especially since you loved how you looked when the braces first came off! How frustrating, am I right? Well, guess what? Myo can be HUGE in securing that those awesome results your orthodontist gave you!

Orthodontists recommend every child have an orthodontic screening by the age of 7. Why? Because early intervention is almost always cheaper, faster, and easier than fixing problems once the bones and teeth are more developed. Giving your child myofunctional therapy before braces can streamline the process even more. How? If we can re-train your child's tongue to rest in the correct position and make the correct movements with speaking and swallowing, the braces have a much easier time moving teeth because they are not fighting the tongue! The tongue is an incredibly powerful muscle, and if it isn't sitting and moving the way it's supposed to, it will put enough pressure on your teeth to physically move them. If the brackets and wires (or aligners if that's your route!) are fighting the tongue the entire time, it's way harder for them to do their job.

Expansion, another dreaded service which is also often recommended with early intervention orthodontics, can be much more successful with myo. What causes some kids to develop nice, broad palates that don't need an expander while others have to endure having turns added to that piece of metal spanning their top jaw? Genetics? Yes, that does have a role. Thumb sucking? That can play a role as well. Tongue posture? YES! The tongue is supposed to naturally rest against the roof of the mouth, maintaining a light suction at all times. This constant light pressure plays a HUGE role in development! The tongue will act as a natural expander, encouraging the upper jaw to grow wide (which makes space for permanent teeth to come in) instead of tall (resulting in crowding and occasionally impacted teeth). Sometimes, an imbalance in the muscles (whether it is the tongue or other facial muscles) can even cause the jaw bones to grow incorrectly. I've known several people who have had braces as an adult or older teenager because they noticed their jaw was "crooked", only to find it is because one of the jaw bones is longer than the other. Then they realize that they are done growing, and unfortunately, the only way to fix it at that point is major jaw surgery. This is terrible news to receive, and I hope that with myo becoming more easily accessible, there are far fewer people that have to get that news. Is it possible that even with myo and good tongue posture your child may still need an expander? Yes, however it will be a much shorter duration with the appliance and much less trauma to the bones (and to the child and parent having to go through it!).

What if you yourself had braces, but your teeth have shifted since? Some of you have have stopped wearing your retainers before your teeth shifted around, others of you have have noticed shifting even with retainer wear, causing your retainers to no longer fit. Well, as previously mentioned, this could be from that strong tongue muscle exerting forces in the wrong direction. Stop for a moment and evaluate yourself. Where does your tongue sit? How about when you swallow? If your tongue touched your front teeth at all, you have a myofunctional disorder. If your tongue is constantly pushing forward against your front teeth with every single swallow, you are very likely to cause your front teeth to begin to flare out or develop an open bite. An open bite is when you bite your teeth together, but your front teeth don't touch and there is always an open space between them. The same can happen with back teeth if your tongue drops low and pushes out to the side when you swallow! So, even if you had braces, if you don't correct your tongue, you may be in an endless cycle of braces-relapse-braces! With good therapy and self-awareness, we can break the cycle.

Thanks for reading! I truly appreciate your support.

Have more questions on myo and ortho? Have another topic you want me to post about? Let me know!

Thanks, see you next time! - Carrissa