Could Mouth Breathing Be Impacting Your Speech?

Mouth breathing, often due to chronic nasal obstruction or improper oral habits, can significantly affect speech production, resonance, and voice quality. Orofacial myofunctional therapy addresses the underlying issues of mouth breathing and helps restore normal breathing patterns, leading to improvements in communication.

How Orofacial Myofunctional Therapy Helps Correct Breathing Patterns

• Re-training Nasal Breathing: Orofacial myofunctional therapy focuses on restoring nasal breathing patterns, which is critical for proper speech production and voice quality. Through breathing exercises and techniques, patients learn to close the mouth at rest and breathe through the nose. This allows for optimal airflow and resonance.

• Strengthening Oral Muscles: Therapy involves exercises that strengthen the muscles of the tongue, lips, and jaw, helping improve oral muscle coordination. This ensures that these muscles function correctly during speech, leading to clearer articulation of sounds.

• Improving Posture and Tongue Position: Mouth breathing often leads to poor posture, particularly of the tongue, which may rest low in the mouth or between the teeth. Therapy helps reposition the tongue to its natural spot on the roof of the mouth, promoting both proper breathing and improved speech clarity.

• Breaking Negative Oral Habits: Many individuals with mouth breathing patterns may have habits like thumb-sucking or lip biting, which contribute to improper oral development. Myofunctional therapy addresses these habits, guiding patients towards healthier patterns that support speech and breathing.

Overall, orofacial myofunctional therapy addresses the root cause of mouth breathing, helping to enhance communication by promoting better speech production, resonance, and voice quality.

At Midwest Myofunctional, our experienced team is here to help you find relief through personalized orofacial myofunctional therapy. Contact us today to learn more or to schedule a consultation.