Indications and Treatment Strategies for Myofunctional Therapy with the Face Former

Goal

Clinical presentation of a new diagnostic and therapeutical concept for myofunctional disturbances of the facial musculature and the mandibular (jaw) musculature.

Material and Methods

With the use of clinical examples, indications were presented in which their efficacies were illustrated. The passive and active therapeutical characteristics of the Face Former were presented and substantiated with the lip strength measuring device (Myo Bar Meter, ISST, Unna, Germany) with a 12 patient comparison group. Statistical analysis was calculated with the SPSS program (version 10.5.2).

Results

Incompetent lip position could be significantly improved (p=0,008) in comparison to the control group. In the case of sucking habits in the experimental group – at least in a short-term observational condition between three and six months – a statistically assured reduction in those habits was seen. The analysis of the subjective wearing comfort of the Face Former was considerably noticeable in comparison to other myofunctional training devices.

Conclusion

The Face Former device seems useful for broad clinical applications, because the first positive changes were diagnosable within the first two weeks of therapy and, as determined from patient information, the new device was much better accepted than the other aiding devices.