TMJ Treatment · Adjunctive Services
Adjunctive Services
Craniosacral massage and myofunctional therapy are powerful complements to orthotic treatment — addressing the soft tissue tension and muscle patterns that an appliance alone cannot fully resolve.
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Supporting Your Orthotic
The orthotic repositions the jaw. These therapies help it stay there.
The MORA orthotic establishes the correct jaw position — but muscles that have been tight and overworked for years don’t always release on their own. Craniosacral massage releases the soft tissue holding patterns that accumulate around the jaw, skull, and neck.
Myofunctional therapy corrects the tongue posture and swallowing patterns that, if left unaddressed, can work against the orthotic and slow progress.
Together, these adjunctive services accelerate the results of Phase I therapy, reduce residual pain, and help the body integrate its new jaw position more fully and more quickly.
Adjunctive Service 01
Craniosacral Massage & Release
Craniosacral therapy is a gentle, hands-on technique that releases tension in the soft tissues surrounding the central nervous system — including the muscles, fascia, and connective tissue around the jaw, skull, and spine.
For TMJ patients, years of dysfunction create deep layers of muscular holding patterns that the orthotic alone cannot address. The temporalis, masseter, and SCM muscles have been working overtime for months or years — and they need help releasing.
Craniosacral therapy allows the jaw to settle more fully into its correct position, reduces residual headache and neck pain, and supports the nervous system’s transition out of chronic pain.
"The orthotic changes where the jaw sits. Craniosacral release changes how the body responds to that new position."
- Releases deep muscular tension around the jaw, TMJ, and skull
- Addresses fascial restrictions in the neck, cranium, and upper back
- Reduces residual headaches, neck pain, and facial soreness
- Helps the nervous system transition out of chronic pain patterns
- Non-invasive, gentle, and deeply relaxing
- Recommended alongside orthotic therapy for accelerated relief
- Corrects tongue resting posture — up in the palate, behind the upper central teeth
- Retrains nasal breathing to support airway function and jaw position
- Addresses improper swallowing patterns that stress the jaw joint
- Reduces forces that work against the orthotic between appointments
- Essential for patients with open bite, tongue tie, or airway restriction
- Supports long-term stability of Phase I and Phase II treatment outcomes
Adjunctive Service 02
Myofunctional Therapy
Myofunctional therapy addresses the tongue posture, breathing patterns, and swallowing habits that directly influence where your jaw rests — and whether your orthotic treatment holds long-term.
If the tongue continues to rest low in the mouth — or if the patient continues to mouth breathe rather than nasal breathe — these forces work against the orthotic every hour of every day. A myofunctional therapist corrects these patterns through targeted exercises that retrain the muscles of the face, tongue, and throat.
At Winterholler Sleep and TMJ, we work closely with and refer to myofunctional therapists as an integral part of comprehensive care — particularly for patients with a history of airway restriction, tongue tie, or open bite.
"Proper tongue posture is not optional — it is structural. The tongue shapes the palate, and the palate shapes the airway."
The Orthotic
The custom MORA orthotic repositions the jaw to its correct physiologic position — relieving condyle compression, reducing muscle overload, and initiating pain relief.
Craniosacral Release
Craniosacral therapy releases the layers of muscular tension that have built up around the jaw, neck, and skull — allowing the body to accept and integrate the orthotic’s new jaw position.
Myofunctional Therapy
Myofunctional therapy retrains the tongue, breathing, and swallowing patterns — removing the forces that would otherwise work against the orthotic and slow long-term stability.
