Myofunctional and Orthodontic therapy for children

Early orthodontic intervention in a growing child can prevent complicated malocclusions which are capable of hampering the child's physiological, psychological and functional oral health status. Myofunctional therapy is the neurologic re-education of the orofacial muscles. It is a rehabilitation therapy program designed to re-pattern stomatognathic functions. The purpose of this literature is to stress the importance of establishing a normal muscle tone and the interdependence of tone and function, to emphasize the fact that myofunctional therapy is largely a matter of nerve training although reflected in muscular patterns and to recall the relation between form and function from the standpoint of mechanical stimulation.