What a Myofunctional Therapist Does (and Why We Refer Patients to One)

Braces and expanders move teeth and bone. They don’t retrain the muscles surrounding them — the tongue, lips, and cheeks — which is where myofunctional therapy comes in.

A myofunctional therapist works on the function and habits of the oral and facial muscles: how the tongue rests, how a person swallows, and whether someone breathes through their nose or mouth. These habits matter more to orthodontic stability than most patients expect. If a tongue habitually pushes against or between the teeth during every swallow (called a tongue thrust), or if it rests low in the mouth instead of against the palate, those forces can undo orthodontic movement over time, or prevent the palate from expanding and holding as it should.

Common reasons we refer patients to a myofunctional therapist:

• Persistent tongue thrust during swallowing
• Low tongue resting posture contributing to a narrow palate
• Mouth breathing habits that persist after an airway obstruction is cleared
• Thumb-sucking or pacifier habits that have shaped the bite
• Relapse risk after palatal expansion or orthodontic treatment, where retraining the tongue’s resting position helps hold the new width

Myofunctional therapy typically involves guided exercises — done at home and reinforced in therapy sessions — to build new, correct resting patterns for the tongue and lips, along with nasal breathing habits. It’s not a quick fix; most programs run several months and require real consistency, but the payoff is treatment that holds instead of relapsing.

We think of it as the piece that makes the structural work last. Dr. Zitterkopf can expand a palate or align a bite, but if the tongue and lips are working against that new structure every day, the muscles usually win eventually. Myofunctional therapy addresses the muscle side of the equation so the two work together instead of against each other.

If you’ve been told your child has a tongue thrust, ongoing mouth breathing, or a habit that’s affecting their bite, ask our Colorado Springs team whether a myofunctional therapy referral makes sense for their treatment plan.