Evaluation and Treatment for Orofacial Myofunctional Disorders (OMD)

NRTA has provided Speech, Occupational, and Physical Therapy in schools, homes, and communities throughout Northern Arizona for over 15 years. Our organization is committed to providing all individuals the skills to be-come independent and to participate fully in their lives.

What are Orofacial Myofunctional Disorders?

With OMD, the tongue moves forward in an exaggerated way during speech and/or swallowing. The tongue may lie too far forward during rest or may protrude between the upper and lower teeth.

What effect does OMD have on speech?

Sometimes speech may not be affected at all. However, some children produce sounds incorrectly as a result of OMD For example, the child may say "thumb" instead of "some" if they produce an /s/ like a "th". Other sounds may be produced incorrectly because of weak tongue tip muscles. Older children may become self-conscious about their appearance.

What causes OMD?

• allergies
• enlarged tonsils and adenoids
• excessive thumb or finger sucking, lip and fingernail biting, lip picking and teeth clenching and grinding
• heredity predisposition
• structural difficulties
• developmental difficulties
• any combination of the above

What are signs or symptoms of OMD?

Although a "tongue thrust" swallow is normal in infancy, it usually decreases and disappears as a child grows. If the tongue thrust continues, a child may look, speak, and swallow differently than other children of the same age.

What treatment is effective for individuals with OMD?

A speech-language pathologist (SLP) with experience and training in the treatment of OMD will evaluate and treat the following:

• open-mouth posture
• speech sound errors
• swallowing disorders

SLP’s develop a treatment plan to help a child change his or her oral posture and articulation, when indicated. If tongue movement during swallowing is a problem, the SLP will address this as well.

Treatment techniques to help both speech and swallowing problems caused by OMD may result in the following:

• increased awareness of mouth and facial muscles
• increased awareness of mouth and tongue postures
• improved muscle strength and coordination
• improved speech sound productions
• improved swallowing patterns

Speech-Language Pathologist

Ann Lehn, MS CCC-SLP who has worked with individuals with a variety of com-munication disorders ages birth to adult for over 20 years. She received her master’s degree from Northern Arizona University and holds a Certifi-cate of Clinical Competence (CCC) from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). Her fo-cus is in the area of Orofacial Myo-functional Disorders through an inter-disciplinary approach that involves ef-fective communication among dental and medical specialists to help ensure optimal client/patient care.