At what age should therapy begin?

Children as young as five years of age can benefit from evaluation or therapy to eliminate sucking habits. Age five years is usually a good age to initiate digit sucking therapy or refer a patient for medical evaluation of an airway interference issue. However, resting posture problems of tongue and lips, and other functional problems such as tongue thrusting are not indicated for treatment until age eight or nine.

Orofacial myofunctional therapy is also appropriate for adults. In many instances, a myofunctional disorder develops in response to late jaw growth, worsening of a malocclusion over time, or other reasons such as tooth loss. Therapy for adult patients is typically efficient. Adults of all ages are capable of achieving success in treatment.

In some instances, evaluation will reveal that no treatment is needed in a child or adult. A tongue thrust without an accompanying speech or dental occlusion variation does not always require correction. The orofacial myofunctional clinician can provide advice on which child or adult will require treatment. While orofacial myofunctional therapy is not speech therapy, the orofacial myofunctional clinician who is also trained in speech-language pathology can also correct the speech disorders which may be associated with orofacial myofunctional disorders.