Breathe Better. Sleep Deeper. Live Healthier.
Orofacial myofunctional therapy in Arkansas helping you or your child achieve optimal health through proper tongue posture, proper swallowing, strong lip seal and nasal breathing.
Meet Your Myofunctional Therapist
Jennifer Mashburn, RDH
Jennifer is a Myofunctional Therapist and Registered Dental Hygienist with nearly 17 years of clinical experience. Her journey into myofunctional therapy began with training through the Airway Circle, expanding her career to better support patients in achieving their functional, airway, and wellness goals.
Jennifer takes a patient-centered approach focused on education, compassion, and long-term success.
About Us
What is Orofacial Myofunctional Therapy?
What is MFT?
Orofacial Myofunctional Therapy is a series of exercises that teaches patients how to chew, swallow, and breathe correctly. It works on correcting bad habits that lead to poor muscle patterns, which can affect total body health.
Exercises
The exercises are designed to work in a hierarchy pattern starting with simple exercises and advancing forward as muscle tone and function increases.
Goals
- Establish nasal breathing as a primary function
- Obtain lip seal/normalized freeway space
- Create a palatal tongue rest position
- Swallowing with posterior teeth in occlusion
- To correct excessive dysfunctional habits
- Proper chewing and drinking
- Develop proper facial muscle patterns
What age should therapy begin?
- Therapy for orofacial myofunctional disorders can begin at variable ages.
- Children as young as 4 years of age can benefit from an evaluation to determine if causative factors such as an airway obstruction or a tongue tie would require intervention.
- Children 5 years of age are at an ideal time to begin a program to help eliminate harmful sucking habits
- Children of 7 to 8 years of age are good candidates to begin an Orofacial Myofunctional Therapy program.
- Teens and Adults of all ages are also able to achieve successful, long-term results.
“My daughter has been seeing Arkansas Orofacial Therapy for about a year now doing orofacial myofunctional therapy. The therapist has been so great with her. Encouraging, praising, and such a huge help. She is thorough and treats Audrey with such respect. She immediately sends me the week's exercises in my email after having a session with Audrey. I am amazed at the change in Audrey's jawline/facial structure in just the first 6 months. The therapist is punctual, works around our crazy schedule and has been super flexible when we have had issues arise and need to rearrange our appointment. Thank you so much for the service and support you provide your patients!"
Andrea Nichols, parent
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