Tongue Thrust/Myofunctional Therapy

What is Orofacial Myofunctional Therapy?

Therapy for orofacial myofunctional disorders

Myofunctional tongue thrust therapy provides a tongue and facial muscle strength workout for appropriate oral rest posture. It primarily targets the tongue, lips, cheek, and jaw muscles. These muscles play a significant role in speaking, breathing, swallowing, and chewing. Strengthening these muscles promotes normal oral rest posture. The specific exercises one may need for myofunctional therapy will vary depending on an individual’s needs and goals. In between therapy sessions at PediaSpeech, children are given weekly exercises to practice at home. There are a variety of Myofunctional Therapy exercises that one can efficiently perform at home, in the car, or in other environments. PediaSpeech therapists can help create a curated exercise plan for each child to complete between sessions.

Potential signs of Myofunctional Disorders:

Abnormal facial skeletal growth
Sleep-disordered breathing
Nasal obstruction
Oral hygiene and dental problems
Teeth grinding (bruxism)
Temporomandibular joint dysfunction
Tongue-tie
Tongue Thrust
And many more

This disorder can:

Alter the shape of your mouth
Relate to feeding difficulties or aversions
Affect the alignment of dentition
Impact developing speech patterns (specifically the r, s, sh, and l sounds)

How does it work?

OMT is a personalized treatment program that helps children develop proper oral muscle function through evidence-based exercises and guided practice. Therapy focuses on improving how the tongue, lips, jaw, and facial muscles work together during everyday activities such as speaking, eating, swallowing, and breathing.

Depending on a child’s needs, therapy may include exercises to:

Improve tongue strength and mobility
Establish a proper resting tongue position
Promote nasal breathing
Develop mature swallowing patterns
Strengthen lip closure
Improve jaw stability and coordination
Support clear speech production

How Do we help?

At PediaSpeech, we utilize a variety of evidence-based treatment programs and therapeutic approaches to meet the unique needs of each child. Our therapists are trained in specialized techniques that support speech and language development, feeding skills, social communication, motor planning, sensory integration, and overall functional growth. Because every child learns differently, we carefully select and customize treatment methods based on each child’s strengths, challenges, and goals.

Helpful Resources for Parents

blog posts

Explore our collection of articles written by our pediatric therapy experts, covering topics such as speech and language development, feeding therapy, occupational therapy, developmental milestones, communication tips, and practical strategies you can use at home.

resources page

We compiled a list of websites that provide insights, therapy tips, developmental milestones, and evidence-based strategies that help children build confidence, improve communication, and thrive at every stage of development.

Ready to get started?

Schedule a Myofunctional evaluation

If your child is experiencing challenges related to tongue posture, breathing, chewing, swallowing, or oral muscle function, our team can help. An individualized evaluation can help identify your child’s needs and determine whether orofacial myofunctional therapy may be appropriate.