Myofunctional Therapy in Winnipeg
Myofunctional therapy is a structured exercise program for the muscles of the face, mouth, and tongue — physical therapy for how a person breathes, swallows, and rests their tongue. Short daily exercises retrain the functional patterns that shape sleep, speech, eating, and facial growth. At Biosmiles, it's a core component of our functional dentistry program for children and adults.
Mouth breathing, snoring, grinding, and restless sleep are functional patterns — and functional patterns respond to retraining. Therapy is delivered by registered dental hygienists with advanced myofunctional training, integrated directly with your child's dental care.
Signs that warrant an assessment
In children, these signs often appear together:
Mouth open during the day or during sleep
Snoring, heavy breathing, or restless, sweaty sleep
Grinding teeth at night
Chapped lips and dark circles under the eyes
Picky or slow eating; chewing with the mouth open
Speech that's hard to understand, or a lisp
Prolonged thumb sucking or pacifier use
Bedwetting past the usual age
Crowded teeth or a narrow smile
Daytime fatigue or difficulty focusing
Individually, any of these can be minor. Appearing together, they suggest an underlying functional pattern — and patterns are assessable, measurable, and treatable.
What myofunctional therapy actually does
Where the tongue rests, how a swallow happens, whether breath moves through the nose — these are habits, repeated hundreds of times a day. When the habits are right, they support forward jaw growth, open airways, and quiet sleep. Myofunctional therapy retrains them with short, structured daily exercises — measured, progressed, and coached, the way a physiotherapist rebuilds a knee.
The research here runs the same direction as everything we do: tongue posture, breathing, and muscle function sit behind a remarkable share of what shows up in a dental chair — crowding, grinding, restless sleep. Correcting function early is the conservative move.
How it works at Biosmiles
The myofunctional consult — $300, 45–60 minutes. A one-on-one assessment of breathing, tongue posture, swallowing, and habits. You leave with findings explained and a written plan.
A personalized program. Short daily exercises at home, coached and progressed in regular sessions.
Integrated with your child's dental care. This is where Biosmiles is different: your myofunctional therapist and your dental team are the same team. Our hygienists are myofunctional-trained, so therapy check-ins fold naturally into Gentle Swiss Clean visits. Dr. Weselake screens airway and growth at every exam and coordinates growth guidance when it's needed. And when a tongue-tie is limiting progress, assessment and treatment planning happen under one roof.
For adults, too
Myofunctional therapy isn't only for growing faces. Adults use it for clenching and grinding, snoring, tongue posture after decades of compensation, and to prepare for — and get full value from — tongue-tie release. And if you've invested in rebuilding your teeth, retraining the forces acting on them is how that work lasts.
Your therapy team
Therapy is provided by our myofunctional therapists Kelly Semkowski and Rebecca Magura — registered dental hygienists with advanced orofacial myofunctional training. Dr. Weselake, who completed airway training through The Breathe Institute (with Dr. Soroush Zaghi), oversees airway screening and treatment coordination.
Fees
Our fees are transparent before treatment begins. The myofunctional consultation is $300 (45–60 minutes). Therapy programs are quoted in writing after assessment, and detailed receipts are provided for insurance submission.
Frequently asked questions
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We assess from age [4] and up. Active exercise programs usually begin once a child can follow a routine — often around [6–8] — but early assessment means habits and growth are watched from the start, and simple habit corrections can begin right away.
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A full functional assessment: breathing pattern, tongue posture and mobility, swallow, speech and eating habits, and sleep history. We measure so progress is trackable, and you leave with findings explained followed by an emailed plan.
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Most programs run [6–12] months of short daily exercises with periodic coaching sessions. Consistency beats intensity — the exercises take minutes a day.
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Closely. A restricted tongue can make correct posture physically impossible — and a release without therapy often falls short of its potential. When a tongue-tie is part of the picture, we plan release and therapy together.
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It works with orthodontics rather than replacing it — correcting the muscle patterns that crowd teeth in the first place, and that can push them back after braces come off. Orthodontists and myofunctional therapists increasingly work together for exactly that reason.
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Many plans cover portions of assessment and therapy; coverage varies by plan. Payment is due at the time of therapy — we can submit your claim with the appropriate codes, and your insurer reimburses you directly. Fees are always transparent before treatment begins.