Dana K. Hockenbury

An Orofacial Myofunctional Disorder describes abnormal function of the oral and facial muscles. These oral muscle patterns create inappropriate muscle function and incorrect habits involving the tongue, lips, jaw and face. A tongue thrust is the most common Orofacial Myofunctional Disorder. It occurs when the tongue moves forward, between or against the teeth rather than elevating up against the roof of the mouth while swallowing.

An open-mouth, lips-apart, low tongue resting posture can also be present. This is often referred to a lip incompetence and distract from a pleasing facial appearance as well as poor eating habits. Incorrect positioning of the tongue, lips and jaw can contribute in improper orofacial development, TMD and misalignment of the teeth.

Dana K. Hockenbury has been working as a Certified Orofacial Myologist since February 2009. Her private practice is dedicated to the treatment of Orofacial Myofunctional Disorders. She completed the intensive course work in Orofacial Myology in 2007 with the Academy of Orofacial Myology overseen by the International Association for Orofacial Myology (IAOM) www.iaom.com and an internship in 2009. To date, she is the only Orofacial Myologist/Speech Pathologist in Manhattan to hold this advanced certification.

Dana retired as a Speech and Language Pathologist with the New York City Board of Education. For over 25 years, Dana worked with the elementary school age population and treated a variety of disorders including articulation, oral-motor, fluency and receptive and expressive language disorders. She is licensed to practice Speech-Language Pathology in the state of New York and Massachusetts.