Orofacial Myofunctional Disorders

Orofacial Myofunctional disorder

Orofacial Myofunctional disorder, also referred to as OMD, generally involves facial parts like lips, jaw, or tongue. An abnormality in these facial parts during rest is termed orofacial myofunctional disorder. People of any age group can get diagnosed with this disorder. OMDs can affect the average growth and build-out of muscles and bones of the face and mouth. This can eventually impact the activities like eating, talking, and even breathing. This makes the patients take their tongues out while eating, drinking, or talking.

 Possible Causes

• One of the most common causes of this disorder is genetics. If you have a family history of this disease, then you are more likely to have it.
• Children like sucking their fingers or thumbs when they are young, which is a major cause of this illness. If a child continues to suck their fingers after the age of 3, they will most likely develop this condition.
• This problem will most likely occur if there is a blockage in the upper airway. One of the causes is that if the nasal channel is closed, one must breathe through the mouth.
• If the head and neck muscles are underdeveloped, one may experience this disorder.
• If a person’s tongue is misplaced at rest for whatever reason, or if it is difficult for them to keep their lips together at rest, they may suffer from OMD.

Risk Factors

OMD can develop at any stage of life, depending on your health and environmental factors. Some of the risk factors related to OMD are:

• Excessive use of sippy cup.
• Use of pacifier for a prolonged period
• Thumb-sucking
• Nail-biting
• Chronic nasal congestion

Signs and symptoms

• People with this condition have an open mouth when they are at rest.
• The speech is distorted.
• Difficulty in moving tongues appropriately.
• People may experience dental issues such as overbite, underbite, etc.
• Difficulties chewing food.
• Difficulty breathing through their noses and prefer to breathe through their mouths.
• Children continue to drool after the age of two.
• People have trouble swallowing when their lips are closed.

Diagnosis

Speech-language pathologists are critical in the treatment of this condition. They pay great attention to the lips, cheeks, teeth, jaws, and tongue movement. People’s swallowing patterns are observed via videotaping. Pathologists examine the patients’ dental structures as well. 

Treatment Options at 7DMC

You are aware of the importance of speech-language pathologists in this disease, and we have the top specialists in the business. We have successfully treated a large number of such individuals. We recommend activities to patients, which are beneficial. Our doctors design several schedules based on the severity of the patient and strive to complete the therapy on the smallest possible budget. 7DMC has proven to be the last choice for several of our patients, and we have been able to fix their difficulties.