How does your jaw feel? Is it relaxed, or is it tight, painful, or even clenched?
Here’s another question: where is your tongue resting in your mouth right now?
At this point, you might have a question for us: “What do these things have to do with each other?”
You’ve probably heard the term “TMJ” before. It’s the abbreviation for “Temporomandibular Joint“, which is the hinge that connects the jawbone to the skull. When we have dysfunction in the jaw joint and/or jaw muscles, that’s calledTMD (Temporomandibular Disorder).
Jaw pain, jaw clicking, teeth grinding, teeth clenching, locking of the jaw joint, and even unexplained neck pain and headaches can all be symptoms of TMD. Almost everyone will experience some form of TMD at some point in life.
But most folks (including trained professionals) don’t realize that jaw issues like TMD can be linked to our resting tongue posture (ie, where our tongue rests in our mouth when we’re not actively using it).
In this expert interview, OraWellness chats with Kieferfreund Founder Julia Burits and Product Manager Felix Neubauer. Kieferfreund (which is German for “jaw friend”) provides easy-to-use solutions to address the root causes of jaw and myofunctional disorders. Their goal is to empower individuals to eliminate TMD symptoms and free their inner smile. 🙂
In this video, Julia and Felix discuss:
- The correct resting tongue posture and why it’s so important.
- How our tongue position habits can impact our airways and contribute to (or prevent) issues like snoring.
- The connection between the tongue, the jaw, and our state of mind.
- How to become self-empowered to address TMD.
- Where to start if you’d like to work on correcting your tongue posture.
- And more!
Show Notes:
- 2:04 How the tongue can contribute to (or help address) jaw issues.
- 4:30 Why Julia created Kieferfreund.
- 6:34 Physical and mental problems that can be related to jaw issues.
- 11:16 The importance of relaxing both your jaw and your whole system.
- 14:59 What is TMJ, and what does it have to do with TMD?
- 18:20 Where the tongue should rest and why it’s important to strengthen the tongue muscles.
- 24:27 Habituating a proper tongue position to help prevent and/or address snoring.
- 27:28 How to get the back of the tongue up to the roof of the mouth.
- 31:59 What’s missing from the conventional jaw issue treatment plan (splints, botox injections, etc.)?
- 36:17 Breastfeeding vs. bottle feeding: impact on dental arch development, tongue placement, tongue thrusting, and myofascial functioning.
- 41:14 The first step to begin retraining yourself to keep your tongue in the ‘home’ position.
- 44:41 How long it takes for someone to create lasting changes with Kieferfreund.
- 46:21 Last gems from the Kieferfreund folks.
- 51:03 Where to learn more about Kieferfreund.
More Info About Kieferfreund:
Feel free to visit Kieferfreund’s website, Kieferfreund.com/en. If you wind up purchasing one of their systems, be sure to apply coupon code ORAWELLNESS to your cart to get a 15% discount on your order.
You’re also welcome to join their free Open Office sessions and/or their Live Meditations. And of course, feel free to follow them on social media:
Wrapping Up…
We hope you gleaned some useful gems from our chat with Julia and Felix. Did it make you more aware of your tongue posture? Was your tongue already resting at the roof of your mouth? Do you notice a difference in the way your airway and jaw feel when your tongue is in the ‘home’ position at the roof of your mouth vs. when you allow it to rest in your bottom jaw? Please share your thoughts and experiences in the comments below so we can all learn from each other.
As always, if you know anyone who could benefit from the information in this video, please help us to help others by sharing our work with your loved ones.
