The Myo Munchee is one of my favorite myofunctional therapy products. I’ve been using it in my practice for years, and for good reason. It works!

The Myo Munchee is designed to encourage chewing and to activate the muscles of mastication - the masseters, temporals, and medial and lateral pterygoids - as well as many of the facial muscles and lips

Chewing correctly is an important part of being a child. When we can get kids to chew, we can help encourage and promote optimal facial growth and jaw development. But in a world of soft foods specifically intended for babies and younger children, effective chewing isn’t always happening as often as it should be.

That’s why I suggest that many of my patients use the Myo Munchee with their children. I even include a Myo Munchee in the treatment kits for all of the patients in my Mini Myo programs for kids under five years of age.

Besides the obvious chewing-related benefits, Myo Munchees can also help with mouth breathing. When kids use a Munchee, they pretty much have to use their nose to breathe. And that’s important to me as a myofunctional therapist, especially when you consider my Four Goals of Myofunctional Therapy.

The Myo Munchee Global Tour

Years ago, I used to joke with my patients that I should work for the Myo Munchee company because I promote their products so much.

Now here I am, honored to be collaborating with them for their USA MyoMunchee Tour. I’ve met the Myo Munchee team at various conferences and seminars, and I’ve been able to get to know some of them quite well. So I was thrilled when the CEO, Mary Bourke, reached out and asked me to join them as a presenter on the USA leg of their upcoming global tour.

If you’re a myofunctional therapist, a doctor of any kind, a dentist or orthodontist, a speech pathologist, a dental hygienist, a body worker, or any other type of healthcare professional who is passionate about kids health, you should join me at one of the Myo Munchee courses starting on June 8th 2019.

These courses are described as “…the most comprehensive Myo Munchee education event ever. “Protocols for a New Generation” is the first of an international educational series for the long awaited Myo Munchee Manual. We will be presenting our clinical protocols from Dental, Myofunctional and Manual Therapy perspectives. This will be a unique opportunity to not only learn Myo Munchee best practices, but also to network with like-minded professionals to build your own referral system and team in your own city.”

We’ll be in Los Angeles, Seattle, Chicago, and Dallas, talking all about the Myo Munchee and how it can be used to help your patients. I hope to see you there!

Click here to find out more about the Myo Munchee Global Tour.

Click here to find out more about the product.

And here’s a video I shot a while back about the Myo Munchee:

Mainstream medicine and dentistry have not always made the link between snoring in children and the harm it can cause, which means that many parents and practitioners have never made the connection either.

As a myofunctional therapist, snoring is one of the first things I screen for in all of my patients - both kids and adults. My job is to look at the airway and find out why my patients breathe through their mouth, or have a tongue thrust or tongue-tie, and to investigate other underlying health issues related to breathing. Snoring in particular, can be an indicator of deeper, more involved airway problems, and the symptoms of airway problems are exactly what I treat.

Research shows that snoring and sleep apnea in children can lead to impaired concentration, poor memory, and difficulty focusing and learning at school. So sleep problems in children are very serious.

As a practicing myofunctional therapist and trainer, I was thrilled to see this subject covered in a current affairs segment on Australia’s high-profile 7 News Network. The program on sleep apnea in young children was called Sleepless Nights. It’s thought provoking stuff for any parent, and for us as hygienists, or for those of you with an interest in myofunctional therapy.

To watch the video, click the image below.

The lead-in to the segment on the broadcaster’s website has this to say on the topic:

“If your child snores, no matter how quietly, you may have a big problem on your hands. What most parents don’t know is that while they are sleeping, their snoring children could be suffering long-term damage.

More than half of Australian children suffer from a sleeping disorder, and the effects can last a lifetime. Experts know that a lack of sleep leads to reduced IQ, developmental issues and can even stunt a child’s growth.”

I’m happy to see other countries recognizing this problem because it definitely happens in the USA too. I see signs and symptoms related to sleep apnea in my practice all the time, and unfortunately I’m often the first healthcare provider to notice them.

If parents aren't aware of obvious loud snoring, another key thing us hygienists can tell them to watch for in their children is an open mouth. An open mouth during the day can be one of the first signs of trouble with sleep and breathing at night. It’s for this reason that I always recommend that parents and healthcare providers treat an open mouth as soon as they see the signs of it in children. Myofunctional therapy is one of the best ways to address airway issues such as snoring and other related symptoms, and this is covered in detail in my Introductory Mentoring Program.