Evaluation of the Pressure of the Tongue, Lips, and Cheeks in Patients with Myofunctional Therapy and Appliance

The purpose of this study was to compare the values of tongue pressure (TP), lip closing pressure (LCP), right buccal pressure (RBP), and left buccal pressure (LBP) and check the intraoral muscle imbalance and observe the changed values according to the myofunctional therapy (MFT) period. The MFT with a prefabricated appliance was performed on patients with certain muscular dysfunctions due to oral habits. And the improvement of perioral muscles was evaluated using a balloon-based pressure measurement. The group consisted of 21 patients with oral habits such as chronic mouth breathing, finger sucking, lip sucking, tongue thrusting, and atypical swallowing habits. When comparing the two groups before treatment, there was a significant difference in TP and LCP values. The TP increased the most in the first month since the start of myofunctional therapy, and the LCP increased the most between 3 and 6 months after treatment began. The values of TP, LCP, RBP, and LBP in the control group measured before treatment were very similar to the results of the experimental group 6 months after the myofunctional therapy. When the MFT was steadily performed, it was possible to observe a noticeable increase in the tongue and lip closing pressure. At least 6 months of myofunctional therapy is recommended for patients with intraoral muscle imbalance due to oral habits.