Why the way you breathe, swallow, and rest your tongue may matter more than you think
By Kayla Ackley, RDH, AOMT-C — Certified Orofacial Myofunctional Therapist, Naturally You Dentistry

Most of us never think about what our tongue is doing right now. But at this moment it is resting somewhere — ideally on the roof of the mouth — and the lips are, ideally, gently closed with breathing happening through the nose. These small, automatic patterns repeat thousands of times a day, and when they go off course, the effects can ripple far beyond the mouth: into sleep, posture, facial development, speech, and even how well orthodontic work holds.
The field that studies and retrains these patterns is called orofacial myofunctional therapy, and it is one of the more quietly powerful tools in whole-body dentistry.
What is a myofunctional disorder?
An orofacial myofunctional disorder, or OMD, is any pattern of the face and mouth muscles that works against healthy growth and function. There are more than thirty recognized ones. Some are familiar — mouth breathing, snoring, teeth grinding, a tongue that pushes forward when swallowing, a lisp. Others are subtler: an open-mouth resting posture, a low tongue position, scalloped edges along the sides of the tongue, chronic clenching, or a forward head posture that quietly strains the neck.
What ties them together is that they are patterns, not one-time events. And because muscles shape bone over years, especially in a growing child, these patterns can influence the width of the palate, the alignment of the teeth, the openness of the airway, and the balance of the jaw joint.
The airway connection
The reason myofunctional therapy has drawn so much attention lately is its relationship to breathing and sleep. When the mouth hangs open and air moves in and out through it instead of the nose, the tongue tends to sit low and the airway narrows. In children, that can show up as restless sleep, snoring, daytime fatigue or difficulty focusing, and dark circles under the eyes. In adults, it often overlaps with snoring, grinding, jaw tension, and sleep-disordered breathing.
Myofunctional therapy does not replace medical care for sleep apnea, and it is not a cure-all. But by strengthening and repositioning the muscles of the tongue and face and restoring nasal breathing, it can be a meaningful part of the picture — often working alongside a physician, an orthodontist, or an ear-nose-and-throat specialist rather than instead of them.
Why braces alone aren't always enough
Here is a fact that surprises many people: teeth that are straightened without addressing an underlying tongue thrust often drift back over time. If the tongue continues to push against the teeth every time a person swallows — which happens hundreds of times a day — it slowly undoes the work braces did. Correcting the swallow and resting posture is what helps that investment last. For families going through orthodontics, this is one of the most practical reasons to look at the muscles, not just the teeth.
What therapy actually looks like
People sometimes picture something clinical or uncomfortable. It is the opposite. There are no needles and no drills. Myofunctional therapy is a series of gentle, guided exercises — think of it as physical therapy for the mouth and face — paired with habit coaching and progress tracking. Patients practice short daily exercises at home, and sessions build on one another over time.
A full program typically runs about a year, spread across roughly twenty-two to twenty-four sessions that can be done in person or virtually. The pace is deliberate, because retraining a lifelong muscle pattern takes repetition, not force.
Tongue-tie, and the pre- and post-release role
Myofunctional therapy also plays an important supporting role around tongue-tie and lip-tie releases (frenectomies). When a tie restricts movement, simply releasing it is often not enough — the muscles need to learn to use their new range of motion, or old patterns creep back in. For children and adults, therapy before and after a release helps make that new freedom of movement lasting. The therapy program itself is designed for ages three and up. Infants follow a different, gentler pathway: latch and feeding support, bodywork referrals, and post-release stretches guided by the dentist.
When to pay attention
​A good rule of thumb is that the earlier a pattern is corrected, the more a child's natural growth can be guided in a healthy direction — but it is genuinely never too late. Signs worth asking about include chronic mouth breathing, snoring or noisy sleep, frequent open-mouth posture, a persistent lisp, ongoing thumb or finger habits, jaw pain or clicking, and orthodontic relapse.
At its heart, myofunctional therapy reflects a simple idea that guides whole-body dentistry: the mouth does not exist in isolation. How we breathe, swallow, and hold our tongue is woven into how we sleep, how we grow, and how we feel. Learning to do those small things well is one of the gentlest, least invasive investments a person can make in their long-term health.


Kayla Ackley, RDH, AOMT-C, is a certified orofacial myofunctional therapist at Naturally You Dentistry in Battle Creek, Michigan, where care is chosen to be safe, gentle, and centered on whole-body health.
​

---