The potential of oral myofunctional therapy based on case studies of occlusal development during the mixed dentition period

Abstract

In order to guide toward sound occlusal development in a pediatric patient with mixed dentition presenting malocclusion, it is important to understand how the malocclusion developed and to eliminate the causes. In this report we discuss the possibilities and limitations of MFT through the case studies. We found that pediatric patients for whom oral myofunctional therapy (MFT) proved effective shared certain common traits other than functional and morphological characteristics. The results of this study suggest that the use of MFT in the development of occlusion can be enhanced by collecting information from the standpoint of the dental hygienist, based on the assumption that orthodontic diagnosis and examination were performed properly.