Therapy

We at logicana.at have specialized in the treatment of myofunctional disorders, or orofacial dysfunctions.  It is our concern to provide speech therapists with a wide, innovative range of materials and knowledge. Relatives and affected persons should have a contact point for products that support and promote orofacial development.  

Myofunctional disorder or orofacial myofunctional disorder after all?

When I talk to colleagues, it is often unclear how this therapy area should be described. In my opinion, it is not enough to call it "myofunctional disorder". Rather, the area of the body should also be included, thus "orofacial myofunctional disorder". "Orofacial dysfunction" does describe the location of the dysfunction, but leaves out the soft tissue aspect.  So in my opinion it should be "orofacial myofunctional disorder."  For simplicity, I will continue to use "myofunctional disorder" or "myofunctional therapy" in the texts. As I have found out in conversations, this is the most common term. 

Which symptoms need a more precise diagnosis?

Permanent mouth breathing, incorrect tongue rest position, teeth misalignment (dysgnathia or malocclusion), recurrence after braces (teeth shift again, despite braces), snoring, articulation disorders (e.g. lisp), tongue thrust and some others, require myofunctional therapy.  The treatment of  tethered oral tissues will be more successful if it is accompanied by myofunctional therapy, or breastfeeding counseling.  The symptom that is very commonly observed is the tongue thrust swallowing pattern. 

How does myofunctional therapy work?

After said diagnostics, in which questions about harmful habits (including thumb sucking, fingernail biting, excessive pacifier use, etc.), most common foods, behavioral and/or sleep behaviors, the anatomical conditions and posture, among others, are assessed, the speech therapist sets goals. A change in structures can take different amounts of time, sometimes great progress is already achieved in a few sessions, other changes need more patience and time of the patient and therapist. Therefore, it is often not possible to plan or predict how long a myofunctional therapy should or can last. 

What is the goal of LOGICANA?

With Logicana we have created a platform that offers products for therapists and patients to make therapy more colorful, innovative, varied and above all successful.  Regular newsletters keep subscribers up to date with news from the store. There is also a knowledge newsletter in which various topics are highlighted by speech therapist Melanie Haslinger. 

(The Newsletters are currently in German only!)

How can oral motor skills be trained?

Oral motor skills are an area that, like gross motor skills, is trained by practicing and doing. For example, wrong shoes can have an effect on foot development and structure. At the same time, "drinking aids", which in the end make life easier for parents (less spilling, etc.) but do not promote the physiological development of lip, jaw and tongue movement, are just as often harmful for dental malocclusions. The goal is to help today's children, adolescents and adults break harmful habits and learn physiological movement patterns.  To parents of children with myofunctional disorders, I often recommend offering real, "chewable food". And not just once, but several times, over and over again. To make exploring food fun, cooking and processing food together. Through the natural processes of the mouth, i.e. sucking, blowing, swallowing, speaking, breathing, a "training" of the oral motor skills already works very well in everyday family life.  Breastfeeding (if possible), otherwise weaning off the bottle after about 1 year, paying attention to nasal breathing, offering chewable food are already steps that promote your child's physiological development!