The Effectiveness of Orofacial Myofunctional Therapy in Improving Dental Occlusion

Summary: The most significant findings of this study definitively establish the beneficial effects of orofacial myofunctional therapy on improving dental occlusion, decreasing dental open bite, and decreasing dental overjet. The results reported are actually quite conservative because of the method of measuring. Measuring and recording every tooth unquestionably dilutes the results which would have been achieved if only the anterior teeth had been used in the calculations. Some may question the small millimeter change as being significant. The change is reflective of the overall relative value change of incorporating all teeth within the dental arches and not limiting the analysis to only the anterior teeth. The secondary findings of the study confirm that age is not necessarily a factor in predicting success of a therapy program. Further, this study indicates that improvement of open bite and overjet can result from OMT without prior or concurrent orthodontic intervention.