Meet Dana Lopez And Her Work

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My name is Dana Lopez. I am a certified myofunctional therapist with a background in dental hygiene. And, um, right now I serve patients ages four years old and up. Awesome. So kids and adults. Awesome. Could you take us back through your journey and kind of what originally drew you into the dental field, and then what eventually led you toward myofunctional therapy? Yeah.

From Dental Hygiene To Myo

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So for as long as I can remember, I've wanted to be a dental hygienist, and I think it stemmed back from when I was a kid. I had a lot of dental issues. I had tons of crowding. I had a lot of cavities all the time, so I was always at the dentist. And normally you would think, like, "Oh, that would, like, deter you from it." Yeah. But I loved my hygienist. I loved her so much, and I was just so curious about what she was doing in there and what it all meant. And so that's kind of what led me down that dental path. And then, um, so I practiced hygiene for probably 10 years before I got introduced to myofunctional therapy, and that got-- I got started in that because of my oldest daughter. Um, it all

A Newborn Clue And Tongue Ties

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started when she was a newborn. I just noticed that she always had her mouth open, when she was sleeping, mouth, like, wide open. And I didn't learn anything about airway or tongue posture or even tongue ties or anything like that in hygiene school. But it was just thanks to, like, social media and, and searching things that kind of led me down the path of, like, maybe she has some oral ties that's preventing her from keeping her mouth shut. Um, 'cause she could breathe through her nose, and she was breastfeeding fine. So those, like, other big indicators weren't really there. So then I took her to a specialist. We were living in San Diego at the time, and they said... She was a pediatric dentist, and she said, "Oh yeah, she has all the ties, cheek ties, lip ties, tongue ties." Wow. "And we can do it all right now with our laser." And my husband and I were kind of like, "I mean, okay, yeah, I get... that's why we're here." "I guess we'll do it." So they did the laser frenectomies, and that night she slept with her mouth shut. And so f- for me as a mom, I was like, "Okay, you know, maybe I did do the right thing." They gave me a few stretches to do, checked in two weeks later, and that was about it. And then, you know, the more research I kept doing about all of this, I kept seeing things about body work and cranial sacral therapy and chiropractic work and all of these other things, oral motor therapy, and I was like, "Wait a second," like, "nobody told me about this." Nobody-- The dentist didn't say, like, "Do therapy first and then come back." And so then we brought her to the chiropractor and did some body work after me learning, like, we should have done this beforehand. So that was, like, the biggest moment for me. Like, wait, nobody told me this, and I don't hear it anywhere else. Mm-hmm. And so that just furthered my research and that's when I came across myofunctional therapy, and I learned that because I was a hygienist, gave me the credentials to go on to be a therapist. And so I took my first course in 2023 when I was on maternity leave with my second daughter. And then I slowly transitioned out of hygiene into my private practice full-time. Awesome. What a journey. Yeah. And it must feel so, like, rewarding to be able to help other parents or other children that went through the same thing that you went through. Yeah, it really helps having personal experience- Mm-hmm and your own personal story to share with these families to let them know, like, you're not alone. Even us professionals, we go through the same things, and we kind of stumble along the way and make some mistakes here and there, but it's never too late.

Myofunctional Therapy Explained Simply

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And then for someone who may have never heard of myofunctional therapy before, how would you explain what it is and what it can help with? So, myofunctional therapy, really plainly put, is kind of like physical therapy for the muscles of the face and the mouth, so the tongue, the cheeks, the lips, and the muscles that support the airway. And it's an exercise-based therapy, and we tone and strengthen these muscles that support proper tongue resting posture Lip seal, proper nasal breathing, and proper chewing and swallowing patterns. So all of this helps with nasal breathing. We should be nasal breathing all day and all night, which then helps proper sleep, proper jaw growth and development, and proper chewing and swallowing patterns. That's so interesting, 'cause I feel like the, the muscles here are all, are like the most neglected- Yes of our entire body. I know. And they all, I mean, it's all connected with nothing in our body works in isolation. Yeah. And yet we tend to kind of like put these things to the side or we don't even consider them when something else systemically is going on. And then what are some

Signs That Call For Evaluation

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signs or symptoms that might indicate someone could benefit from being evaluated by a my- myofunctional therapist? Yeah. I, I think the biggest one is not being able to breathe through your nose. So number one, you have to be able to breathe through your nose. And even if someone were to come to me with like chronic congestion or just like, "I can't remember the last time I, I breathed through my nose," then that would be like go to the ENT first, because if we can't achieve nasal breathing because of maybe like a physical obstruction, then we have to take care of that first. Um, other signs are just preferring to mouth breathe you've been diagnosed with a tongue tie poor sleep, snoring, sleep apnea, morning headaches, migraines, clenching and grinding your teeth kids with swollen tonsils and adenoids sometimes like emotional regulation and behavior issues as well. Those are the main ones that we see. Mm-hmm. That's so interesting how one, when one part of our body is affected- Mm-hmm it can start to show up in so many different parts. Yeah. And we don't even realize that it's all connected- Mm-hmm until we start to break it down.

Adults Vs Kids And Root Causes

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So you work with both children and adults. What are some of the biggest differences you see between the two groups when it comes to their needs and their goals? Yeah, I think adults have a lot more walls and barriers that we have to break down to get to like the root cause, you know, because they've spent their whole lives, their whole adult lives, whether that's poor sleep living in pain, um, nervous system dysregulation, and then everything else that we have going on in our life, our work life, our home life, all that kind of stuff. There's a lot more that goes into really getting to the root of the issue. And I mean, same with kids too, but I feel like with adults there's a little bit more work to be done to like, you know, peeling back the layers. Right. There are a lot more layers to peel back- Yeah with adult, with the adult patients. Interesting. Yeah, 'cause I feel like adults are so busy. We put things- Mm-hmm on the back burner. Right. But then when it comes to children, they're like, "Okay, well my, my kid is, is- Mm-hmm having this issue. Let's get it-" Yeah "checked out immediately." Yeah, or they're like, "Oh, I'm not gonna tell her about that because I don't think it has to do with this." Hmm. Right? But it probably does. Interesting. Yeah. How does something like breathing or tongue posture affect other areas of a person's health and development? Yeah, so I'll keep this short because we can go on and on. But again, it all comes down to how we're breathing. So our tongue needs to be resting in the roof of our mouth to keep our mouth closed to then breathe in and out of our nose. When we're breathing in and out of our nose, our nervous system is regulated. It also helps support proper sleep. So when we're breathing through our nose, again, we're able to get into that rest and digest phase. And then also, you know, having proper sleep then translates into our nervous system, which then has to do with basically everything else, right? Yeah. Like our gut and our digestive system. Yeah. And just how we function in this world. So when it comes to tongue posture and nasal breathing, it really kind of sets the tone of how you go about living your life, I think. That's interesting. I feel like the more we talk, I'm becoming more- Right. conscious about where my tongue is in my mouth. Yes. Yes. And that's the point of this, right? Yeah. Awareness. Awesome.

What A Full Evaluation Looks Like

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And then what does a, what does a typical evaluation look like when somebody first comes into Inspiration Myo? Yeah, so I send them a, a questionnaire, and it's a ton of questions about their sleep, their breathing, their digestion, their diet any aches or pains. Do they snore? Have they had a sleep study? And then so I go over that questionnaire and I kind of deep dive into everything. Um, so tell me a little bit more about your gut issues or, if it's a child, like their emotional dysregulation or they have signs and symptoms of ADHD A little bit more about their sleep. Is there bedwetting nightmares, night terrors? So we go really into depth into that questionnaire, and then I do an intraoral exam, and I look at their bite, how their teeth come together. Um, I look in the back of their throat, so the space that they have to breathe, checking for tho- those muscles and if they're activated or not. Um, soft palate, those walls that house your, um, tonsils. I look to see if there's any evidence of tonsillar inflammation. Um, and then I also take certain measurements to check for any restrictions in the mouth, so like a tongue tie, a lip tie, cheek ties. Um, and then I do a chewing and swallowing assessment. So I have them drink some water, eat some applesauce, chew some crackers. And then I just watch what muscles they use to help them chew and swallow their food. So like, do they prefer one side? Do they use their cheeks and lips or their head to swallow? Um, I then look at their posture, so their body posture their head, neck, shoulders, back, hips, knees, ankles, feet. Like the whole thing. Yeah. And then I watch them walk, um, which not, that's not true for all myofunctional evaluations. Mm. That's just what I do personally, the more that I learn. And then I do an oral motor assessment, so I take them through some basic lingual skills to see how they're able to use their muscles in isolation and what other compensations they bring along with them to, to be able to achieve these certain movements. Sounds like a very comprehensive- Yes process. It takes it's about an hour and a half. Uh-huh. But sometimes we go a little bit over. Yeah. I try to condense it as much as I can, but there's just so much to look at. Yeah. And with myofunctional therapy, is it one of those things where, like, once you see it, you can't unsee it- Yes in, like, so many different people? Yes. You're gonna leave here and, like, look at everybody's mouth and being like, "I wonder where their tongue is resting." Yeah. Or you could just, like, look at somebody and I can be like, "Your tongue's probably not in the room, in the roof of your mouth." So. So funny.

Misconceptions About Symptoms And Risk

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And then what are some of the biggest misconceptions you come across, um, when parents are learning about different things like tongue ties and mouth breathing or overall airway health? Um, probably if they're not having any, any, like, obvious symptoms, then it's probably not gonna affect them. So I've gotten plenty of kids who were referred to me because they have a very obvious tongue tie, or they're very clearly grinding their teeth. But then everything else on the chart, you know, in my questionnaire, parents answer no to. Or they're just not sure. Like with sleep, "I don't think they snore. I don't ever hear them. They never wake up. They're not sweaty. They're not moving around a lot. They do great in school." But then we look at how their jaws are growing and developing, and they have very narrow jaws, and their teeth are crowded, and they're getting cavities. And so, just because it's not blaringly obvious doesn't mean that it's not affecting them as they get older. Mm-hmm. Because it's not so much about the really detrimental things- Yeah but also the little things about, like, how is your jaws growing and developing? Is there enough room for your tongue? Is there enough room for all of your teeth? Are people telling you that, you know, you have to get your teeth pulled to fit all your teeth in? Like, little things like that. And then are these things that should be caught earlier than, rather than later? Yeah. I mean, if we can catch it at birth. You know, I don't work with babies, but if we can catch things like oral restrictions or even their palates, like infants' palates can be misshapen or already narrow because they had low tongue posture in utero. Mm-hmm. So if we can catch that early on, like the earlier the better, because then we're not dealing with possible sleep apnea or having to have years of extensive ortho or behavioral issues, sleep issues. If we could avoid all of that in everybody, obviously that would be amazing if we could catch it in early infancy. But that's really hard to do. Yeah. So, but yeah, it, it, the earlier the better. As soon as we can catch it, the better. Yeah.

Why Early Screening Matters

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And then what role does myofunctional therapy play alongside other professionals such as dentists, orthodontists, ENTs, pediatricians, or speech therapists? Yeah, I feel like myofunctional therapy is it's like salt, like add it to everything. Like everyone can use a little bit of myofunctional therapy. But they-- it's all about how these muscles are functioning and if they are functioning properly or not. So when it comes to ortho, um, we're looking at like ortho retention. So you could do all of the expansion and all of the braces and all of the things, but once they come off, if those muscles are still not functioning properly, muscle's gonna win every time, right? So function, the function of the muscles is gonna determine how well everything that you did lasts. Um, and then, speech language, we need that muscle tone and strength to be able to articulate our words. Um, when it comes to ENTs, you know, sometimes the biggest thing I think about is like tonsil and adenoid surgery. So sometimes you have to have the surgery. You have to get them out for whatever reason. But then follow it up with therapy so that these symptoms that you were having that led you to the ENT in the first place don't come back, because they usually do. Mm-hmm. And then, you know, the dentist, they can be the first signs of sleep-disordered breathing, like screening for sleep apnea. If they have recession on their teeth or their teeth are worn down, like that's a sign that they're struggling to breathe. Mm-hmm. And they can refer to us. And it might not always start with myofunctional therapy. They could come to me and I could say that you need to see somebody else first before we start this. Interesting. Yeah. If myofunctional therapy were incorporated into routine screenings for children, what kind of things do you think could be identified earlier on? Yes. I think it could start with, you know, a simple questionnaire. I think they do this for like speech in some schools, a simple questionnaire about how the kids are sleeping. Like is there snoring? Is there pauses in breathing? Do they grind their teeth? Are they wetting their bed? Do they get a lot of cavities? Those kind, types of screens that you can kind of ask the parents, and then when you're looking at the kid, you can look, are their teeth flat? Are their tonsils enlarged? Are, do they have dark circles? Do they have long faces? Like things like that are indicators that they might have some sort of muscle dysfunction, um, and sleep-disordered breathing. Okay. And then what has been one of the most rewarding transformations you've witnessed in a patient? Yeah, mo- well, just recently I had, um, a patient who was six years old who was still sucking their thumb, and by session three they stopped sucking their thumb altogether. Their posture changed like immensely. Um, their lower jaw already started to come forward and mom was saying that they were just overall so much happier, and they are just like waking up in the morning ready to go. They have a better attitude. Their mood is better. They're just happier to be around family and friends. And that-- Oh, I'm drawing a blank. What was I gonna say after that? Oh, I can't remember. But anyway. Okay. Um, but yeah, that, that, that they were just like an overall happier kid. Yeah. And it was only session three. That's amazing. And I can't imagine the relief on both sides, the kid and the parent. Mm-hmm. 'Cause I feel like kids, they just, they feel things, and they don't know- Yeah why they feel certain things. Mm-hmm. And then for the parents to be able to watch their kid transform as well. Yeah, and I, I think it, it also is, like, reassuring to them that they made the right choice in all of this, 'cause a lot of the times parents are told one thing by one professional, and it doesn't sit right with them, and then they come to see a myofunctional therapist or me, and they're like, "Yes, this makes so much sense. Like, this is what I was saying." Mm-hmm. "And nobody, like, listened or nobody believed me, and now here we are. Th- it's like a completely different child." Yeah. Awesome. What is something about your job that people would probably never guess is part of being a myofunctional therapist? Yeah, I think when I ask people questions about, like, their digestion, they are very, like- put off. Especially adults. I'm like, "Any constipation or diarrhea?" And they're like, "Um-" Wait a minute. I mean," yeah. Um, because yeah, again, I think there's a misconception about, like, things working in isolation, and we don't really connect the dots of, like, how our mouth is functioning, how it, how it affects the rest of our body. Mm-hmm. So, um, or even, like, pelvic floor health and things like that. Our feet, our hips, you know, like, all those sorts of things all can... We can kind of s- get a better insight of what's going on by looking in the mouth and our jaws. Yeah. That's so interesting. Yeah. Yeah. So you made

Business Boundaries And Patient Commitment

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the transition from working as a dental hygienist to running your own practice. What has been the biggest adjustment in becoming a business owner? Boundaries. Boundaries. It's a hard one because I feel like most people who are in, like, a healthcare profession want to help people, right? Mm-hmm. And so one thing that I'm learning along the way is you know, it- not everybody is gonna be the right patient for you, and I'm not the right practitioner for every single person. And so being able to distinguish who is a good candidate, because myofunctional therapy is a time commitment and a financial commitment, and not everybody is ready to take that leap, and some people might think that they are, and then they get into it, and then they decide it's not for them, which is hard on your schedule. So just having a little bit more discernment in okay, this person is ready. They are ready, and they're willing to do the work, and that's, those are the patients that you want, and those are the patients that it's going to work the best on. Mm. 'Cause you have to do the work. You have to put in the time for it to work. It's not, you know, see me do a few things, and then all of a sudden everything's better. It's- Yeah you have to put in the work. Just like anything, you know, the amount of time and effort that you put into something is what you're gonna get out of it. Yeah. And then is that something that you talk about with most of your patients? I do now. Yeah. I didn't at first. When I first started, I was a yes man. I'm like, "Yep, I'll see you. I'll see you. I'll see you." And then I'm like, gosh, why are these people not getting the expected results where they should be at this time? Mm-hmm. Because they're not doing the work at home. Um, and so I do put a lot of pressure on the patient or the parent at the end of the evaluation when I am going over what therapy looks like, and I ask them, "How important is this to you? On a scale of one to 10, how important is addressing these issues that you came to me with?" And most, most of the time they'll say, "It's a 10 out of 10." Like, "I'm ready to go." And then I, you know, reiterate the time that it takes to do these exercises and that if you don't do the prescribed exercises and the prescribed time, it's not gonna work, and you're gonna waste your time. Yeah. At first that seemed very, like, harsh to me. I'm like, I can't say that." Like, they are coming to me. But yeah, you can because it's my practice and- Mm-hmm and my name on their results, too. Right. Yeah. It's so great that you have that recognition. Yeah, now I do. What have you learned about yourself through building Inspiration Myo that you didn't expect when you first started? I think that aside it kind of really brought out and made apparent how much of a people pleaser that I, I was. And just like the hard truths in treating everybody, like I said you're not gonna be everybody's cup of tea, and that's okay. Mm-hmm. But that's a hard thing to realize. You know, when you work like in, in dental, you don't have to worry about that. I mean, sometimes you do, but when it's your business and you depend on these people to come back and to refer to you and to tell other people about you having a little bit more tenacity, I guess. Hmm. Yeah. In that, you know, if people say no, that that's, that's not about you. That's just they weren't the right fit. Interesting. So. Yeah. Yeah. And so education also seems to be a big part of increasing awareness around myofunctional therapy. What do you wish more healthcare professionals understood about your field? I wish that they understood for one, how important it is, and that it's never a this or that type of thing. It's never your service or my service. It's always our services together- Mm-hmm to better benefit the patient. And, you know, I, I understand, like, working in dental that the amount of time that we have with somebody is so short, and especially, if you're a doctor, that time is even more short. It's- Mm-hmm it's even more limited, so I understand that they don't have a lot of time. But just being able to mention it to the patient to know that there's other options out there, it's always gonna benefit, and it's gonna complement whatever it is that they're doing. But it's never gonna take away. It's only gonna complement. Yeah. When you were in the dental field, were you-- Was it, was myofunctional therapy something that a lot of people in that field knew about? No. And I don't think it is still. Interesting. Yeah. We don't learn anything about this in hygiene school or dental school or anything like that. Mm-hmm. I think, I think it's, like, kind of coming around a little bit. Yeah. I know there's a lot of, there's a lot more lectures and CEs, um, in hygiene schools that include myofunctional therapy, but being part of the curriculum, it's just not something that we, that we learn. Which is so interesting 'cause it's all in your- You would think in your face and your mouth. Yeah. Yeah. You would think. I mean, I don't even remember learning... I remember looking at one picture of a tongue tie- on a baby in hygiene school, but I couldn't tell you the importance of it- Mm or why it mattered to us or how to identify or what to do about it. Yeah. Interesting. Yeah. Where

Where The Field Is Headed

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do you think the field of myofunctional therapy is headed, and what changes would you love to see over the next couple of years? I hope that it's, I hope that it becomes just as common as, like, seeing a chiropractor or seeing the dentist or getting a massage. "Oh yeah, of course I know what myofunctional therapy is," or, "Oh yeah, I'm gonna, I'm gonna get my braces and then I'm gonna see my, um, myofunctional therapist," or, instead of waiting six months to a year to get a sleep study, like, "I'm gonna see my myofunctional therapist first and then see where my sleep is at." Or even it being kind of like a first line of descent, of defense before medication or other things that don't, that aren't working for the body. Like this is, you know, we're teaching our body how to do what it's supposed to do when there was an interference- Mm-hmm rather than medicating or giving you a device that you're gonna be dependent on for the rest of your life. Right. You know? Like let the body heal itself and reteach it to do what it's supposed to do- Yeah because we can and at, at any age. I mean, I've had patients in their 80s because they're tired of snoring and sleeping poorly- Um, so yeah, I, I hope that it come, becomes as common as, as seeing a chiropractor or something like that, that everybody knows what it is. Mm-hmm. And then if you could change one thing about the way chil- children's oral health and breathing are currently evaluated, what would you change? I feel like every pediatric dentist, or just dentist in general, has a pediatric sleep screening questionnaire in the intake forms. We screen, you know, in, in at schools, you know, we screen for scoliosis and eyesight and occupational therapy needs and speech language, but we're not screening for sleep disordered breathing, which is so common these days. It's so, so common, but people- Mm-hmm think it's normal or something that they're gonna grow out of. But they don't grow out of it. It's just going to continue to get worse and show up in different ways. Mm. Yeah, that's another thing that I hear is things are, that are common but not normal- Yes and that everybody thinks- Mm-hmm oh, because it's common. Because it's so common. It's, yeah. Yeah. But definitely not normal and- Yeah and not helpful. And then for anyone who wants to learn more about myofunctional therapy or see if Inspiration Myo could be a good fit for them, where can they find you? Yes, you can find me on Instagram. I'm not big in social media, but, um- You can find me on Instagram @inspirationmyo or my website inspiration-myo.com. Um, I do see people virtually as well, so you can fill out a little form, and then I'll be in contact with you in about a day or two. And virtual assessment, virtual therapy, or in person. Awesome. And

How To Find Inspiration Myo

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then as we wrap up, is there anything you'd like to add that we haven't touched on today? Yeah, I, I think the, the main thing is that it doesn't-- The people that come to me with an issue is rarely, um, what we're treating. So they can come to me because someone told them they had a tongue tie, but then again, as we go through all the questionnaires, it looks like digestion issues, autoimmune issues sleep apnea, broken teeth, like all of these things that might start as one thing, but then there's a trickle-down effect, and it's so much more. So even if you're not sure, you're like, "Oh, I feel like I have this issue, but I'm not sure if myofunctional therapy is going to help," it doesn't hurt to get an evaluation and just- Mm-hmm to see, because more than likely it is all connected. And even if the myofunctional therapist can't help with every single issue, we can help guide you to other professionals who can help you, who understand the connection, which I think is the biggest thing- Mm-hmm too, is, again, we can't fix it all, but we have the resources to then share with you to send you to other professionals who can help complete this circle. Awesome. Well, thank you so much, Dana, for joining me on "The Alimond Show" and sharing your knowledge and inspiring story with us. I wish you the very best in all that comes your way in the future. Thank you so much for having me. This was so much fun.