Nasal Breathing & Airway Function Flashcards

The primary goal of orofacial myofunctional therapy for patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is to:

Answer: Strengthen oropharyngeal and tongue muscles to reduce airway collapsibility during sleep

OMT targets oropharyngeal muscles—including the tongue, soft palate, and lateral pharyngeal walls—to increase their tone and reduce the tendency for airway collapse during sleep.

Which orofacial myofunctional pattern in children is most strongly associated with pediatric sleep-disordered breathing?

Answer: Low tongue rest posture combined with habitual open mouth posture

Low tongue rest posture and open mouth posture together allow the tongue to fall posteriorly during sleep, reducing oropharyngeal airway dimensions and contributing to SDB.

The Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) is incorporated into orofacial myofunctional evaluation primarily to:

Answer: Screen for excessive daytime sleepiness that may indicate underlying sleep-disordered breathing

The ESS is a validated questionnaire that measures daytime sleepiness across eight common situations; high scores prompt consideration of sleep-disordered breathing as an underlying condition.

Research has demonstrated that orofacial myofunctional therapy can reduce the apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) in adults with OSA primarily through:

Answer: Strengthening dilator muscles of the upper airway to maintain patency during sleep

OMT exercises targeting the tongue, soft palate, and pharyngeal muscles increase muscle tone, reducing the passive collapse of these structures that causes apnea events.

Which breathing retraining approach, sometimes integrated into orofacial myofunctional therapy, focuses on reducing breathing volume to normalize carbon dioxide tolerance?

Answer: Buteyko breathing method

The Buteyko method teaches reduced-volume nasal breathing to raise CO2 tolerance, alleviate chronic hyperventilation, and reinforce nasal breathing habits.

When a child presents with suspected enlarged adenoids causing significant nasal obstruction, the appropriate management sequence is:

Answer: Refer to an ENT physician to evaluate and treat the adenoid obstruction before initiating OMT

Enlarged adenoids create an anatomical barrier to nasal breathing; OMT cannot overcome structural obstruction, so ENT evaluation and potential adenoidectomy must precede myofunctional training.

The relationship between low tongue rest posture and sleep-disordered breathing is best explained by which mechanism?

Answer: The tongue falls posteriorly into the oropharynx during sleep, narrowing the airway and causing obstruction

When the tongue habitually rests low in the mouth, it lacks the muscle tone to maintain an anterior position during sleep, and gravity pulls it posteriorly, reducing the oropharyngeal airspace.