Myobrace is a removable orthodontic appliance system designed to straighten teeth by retraining the muscles and habits that cause them to grow crooked in the first place. Developed in Australia, it targets problems like mouth breathing, incorrect tongue posture, and thumb sucking, rather than simply forcing teeth into position with wires and brackets. The system is primarily used in children between ages 5 and 10, during the window when jaw growth can still be guided.
How Myobrace Works
Traditional braces apply mechanical force to push teeth into alignment. Myobrace takes a different approach: it corrects the oral habits and muscle patterns that caused the misalignment. The idea is that crooked teeth are often a symptom of deeper issues, including how a child breathes, swallows, and positions their tongue at rest. If those habits aren’t addressed, teeth tend to drift back after braces come off, which is why relapse is a common problem with conventional orthodontics.
The appliance itself looks like a flexible mouthguard. It’s worn for one to two hours during the day and overnight while sleeping. Inside the device is a rigid core element that resists pressure from the cheek and lip muscles, while the outer material stays soft enough to be comfortable. The preformed arch shape gently guides teeth into better alignment over time, combining the structural correction of rigid braces with the flexibility of a silicone trainer.
What makes the system distinct is what happens after the appliance comes out. Because the treatment retrains tongue position and lip seal, the muscles themselves continue to support alignment even when the device isn’t being worn. This is the core principle of myofunctional orthodontics: change the muscle environment, and the teeth follow.
The Three Treatment Stages
Myobrace uses a phased system with three appliances, each progressively firmer and designed for a specific goal.
- Stage 1 (Habit Correction): The first appliance is soft and flexible. Its primary job is to establish nasal breathing, correct tongue posture, and break habits like mouth breathing or thumb sucking. Because it adapts to any arch shape, it works as a comfortable starting point that builds the child’s tolerance for wearing the device.
- Stage 2 (Arch Development): The second appliance is firmer and focuses on widening the dental arch while continuing to reinforce proper tongue position, swallowing patterns, and lip seal. This is where structural changes to jaw width begin.
- Stage 3 (Alignment and Retention): The final appliance is the most rigid. It finalizes the arch shape, completes tooth alignment, and serves as a retainer to hold results in place.
Each phase typically lasts six to eight months, with the retention phase running about six months. Total treatment time generally falls in the range of 18 to 22 months, though this varies depending on the severity of the child’s habits and how consistently they wear the appliance.
Daily Exercises Are Part of the Treatment
Wearing the appliance alone isn’t enough. Children also perform a set of myofunctional exercises, usually twice a day for about 10 minutes per session. These exercises retrain the muscles of the tongue, lips, and throat to support proper oral posture.
A typical routine includes exercises like pressing the tongue tip against the roof of the mouth and slowly sliding it backward to strengthen tongue muscles, or holding the tongue gently between the front teeth while practicing swallows (five swallows, repeated five times). Another common exercise involves sticking the tongue out as far as possible and trying to touch the chin while looking at the ceiling. These are simple movements, but they build the muscle memory needed to keep the tongue resting in the correct position on the palate throughout the day. Practicing in front of a mirror helps children see what their tongue and lips are doing.
What the Clinical Evidence Shows
Research on preformed myofunctional devices is still limited compared to the decades of data behind traditional braces, but pilot studies show measurable results. One study followed 36 children in mixed dentition (a mix of baby and adult teeth) over two years of treatment. The children showed statistically significant improvements across several key measurements.
The average overjet, which measures how far the upper front teeth stick out past the lower ones, dropped from 3.59 mm to 1.77 mm. Overbite (the vertical overlap of the front teeth) decreased from 2.52 mm to 1.73 mm. Perhaps most notably, the upper jaw widened by nearly 3 mm on average, and the width discrepancy between the upper and lower jaws shrank from 5.84 mm to 1.68 mm. All of these changes were statistically significant.
These are meaningful improvements, particularly for children who haven’t yet finished growing. That said, pilot studies with small sample sizes aren’t the same as large-scale clinical trials, and results depend heavily on patient compliance. A child who skips wearing the appliance or doesn’t do the exercises consistently will see less benefit.
What Myobrace Treats
The system is designed for children showing early signs of crooked teeth, crowded teeth, improper jaw growth, or malocclusion (a bad bite). It’s particularly well suited for kids whose alignment problems stem from identifiable habits: mouth breathing, tongue thrusting during swallowing, reverse swallowing patterns, or prolonged thumb sucking. By addressing those root causes during the years when the jaw is still developing, the goal is to reduce or eliminate the need for braces later.
Myobrace is also used to retrain breathing patterns. Children who habitually breathe through their mouths tend to develop narrower upper jaws and longer facial profiles over time. The appliance encourages a closed lip seal and nasal breathing, which supports wider, more balanced jaw growth.
How It Differs From Traditional Braces
The biggest practical difference is that Myobrace is removable. There are no brackets glued to the teeth, no wires to tighten, and no dietary restrictions. Children wear it for a couple of hours during the day (typically while doing homework or watching TV) and overnight. This makes oral hygiene much simpler, since brushing and flossing happen normally.
The tradeoff is compliance. Traditional braces work 24 hours a day whether or not the patient cooperates. Myobrace only works if the child actually wears it and does the exercises. For families considering it, the child’s willingness to stick with the routine is a real factor in whether the treatment succeeds.
Another key distinction is timing. Braces are typically placed once most or all permanent teeth have come in, usually in the early teen years. Myobrace is designed to intervene earlier, during the primary or mixed dentition phase, with the aim of guiding growth so that severe misalignment never fully develops.
Finding a Provider
Myobrace treatment is offered by licensed dentists and orthodontists who have completed certification through Myofunctional Research Co., the company behind the system. Providers are ranked in tiers (Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum) based on their training hours and experience treating patients with the system. A higher-tier provider has treated more cases and incorporates more specialized patient education into their practice. You can search for certified providers through the Myobrace website by location.