Workshops

By Anna Regner and Dorota Regner

Introduction to holistic body therapy and its benefits for orofacial treatment.

Goal: Improve oral motor-sensory and feeding skills

Beginning advice for orofacial therapy: Mouth and face belong to the most sensitive, delicate and intimate areas of our body.

All contact must be friendly, sensitive and careful.

It must convey security to the child and allow him/her enough time and space to feel confident. In some cases, however, children display a severe aversion to oral contact and even against feeding. Patience, careful attention and exercises can help treat this.

Defining useful terminology

Silent Motorica

Visual contact and regulation of head control, breathing and muscle tension

Muscle tension

The continuous and passive contraction of the muscles which helps maintain posture (i.e. hyper- and hypo-tonic muscle tension)

Muscle Chain

The complete chain of connected muscles in the entire body, from the toes to the head

Body directions

An anatomical description of the planes dividing the human body (cranial/towards the head; caudal/towards the coccyx; ventral/to the front; dorsal/to the back; lateral/left to right or right to left; diagonal/across the torso)

Distal (peripheral) impulses

increase of muscle tone (hypotonia)

improve breathing and straighten up against gravity

distal impulses continue into and influence the orofacial area

Distal impulses support the orofacial functions of eating and drinking

Regulation of the oro facial muscle motor activity (through rhythmical movement and vibration of distal impulses)

Vibration

Regulates muscle tension and ensures proper body alignment by bringing muscles more oxygen and information through increased movement

Craniosacral therapy - skull exercises

Neuromotorical areas

Points on the face which receive sensory information when stimulated, and send it to the somatosensory cortex, which analyses the information and responds with motorical movement of facial muscles

Jaw control

Correct, symmetrical alignment of the lower and upper jaw and tongue control

Breathing

The act of inhalation and exhalation bringing oxygen to the body; also regulates the body’s muscle tension and posture

Goals for Treatment:

Correct function of orofacial muscles through muscle chain (shoulder/hip girdle)

Correct body and head posture

Pelvis upright

Hands able to find the middle line

Prepare the body’s receptors for stimulation using the whole body (inc. distal points)

Manual jaw stabilization with head control in order to close the mouth and keep the tongue back

Improve function of all facial and intraoral muscles

Normalize breathing through nose

Improve swallowing function

Supporting Equipment

Orthodontic equipment, vibrating toys, tubes, suckers, etc.

Techniques and Positioning

Body position

Correct body control with head and torso in middle line

Vibration techniques

Short, intermittent vibration for hypotonic muscle tension

Long, sustained vibration for hypertonic muscle tension

Exercises

Preparing the child for treatment using Silent Motorica

Infants

Adults

Regulating orofacial muscle tension

through rhythmical movement

through distal impulses (hands and feet)

Sensory integration

vestibular

proprioceptive

tactile

Regulating muscle tension for hypo- and hyper-tonic muscle tension

Massage for neurosensomotor areas of the body

Breathing exercises

Manual techniques of jaw control

Intraoral exercises (gum massage, palate massage)