1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:28,000 Hi everyone, and welcome back to Airway First, a podcast from the Children's Airway First 2 00:00:28,000 --> 00:00:29,000 Foundation. 3 00:00:29,000 --> 00:00:32,500 I'm your host, Rebecca St. James. 4 00:00:32,500 --> 00:00:36,000 My guest today is Mary Burke. 5 00:00:36,000 --> 00:00:42,840 Mary is a member of the Segro-Oxipital Technique Organization and has obtained advanced craniopath 6 00:00:42,840 --> 00:00:45,000 certifications. 7 00:00:45,000 --> 00:00:49,160 She has also been involved in the education and training of other practitioners in this 8 00:00:49,160 --> 00:00:51,440 field. 9 00:00:51,440 --> 00:00:56,800 Mary has been in chiropractic practice for over 29 years, and during this time she has 10 00:00:56,800 --> 00:01:02,240 undertaken further studies in many aspects of pediatric development. 11 00:01:02,240 --> 00:01:07,720 She developed the Vital Babies Program for mums with babies under six months of age to 12 00:01:07,720 --> 00:01:14,480 offer education and understanding of factors that can influence optimal growth and development. 13 00:01:14,480 --> 00:01:20,280 One area of particular interest for Mary has been facial growth development. 14 00:01:20,280 --> 00:01:24,920 She has spent a great deal of time attending conferences all around the world looking into 15 00:01:24,920 --> 00:01:30,520 the different aspects that are affecting growth and development of this vital area. 16 00:01:30,520 --> 00:01:35,680 Mary has undertaken over 300 hours of training in the field of oral facial myofunctional 17 00:01:35,680 --> 00:01:42,720 therapy and in 2016 with the blessing of her father, Dr. Kevin Burke, she took over leadership 18 00:01:42,720 --> 00:01:50,160 at Myomunchie with the intent of relaunching the product her father originally developed. 19 00:01:50,160 --> 00:01:54,440 Mary's particular interest lies in the early detection of potential problems for young 20 00:01:54,440 --> 00:02:01,760 children and addressing the underlying causes of oral growth and developmental issues. 21 00:02:01,760 --> 00:02:08,280 You can find out more about Mary and the Myomunchie at Myomunchie.com. 22 00:02:08,280 --> 00:02:12,560 And now let's jump into my interview with Mary Burke. 23 00:02:12,560 --> 00:02:13,880 Okay, great. 24 00:02:13,880 --> 00:02:16,920 Thanks so much for joining us on the show this evening, Mary. 25 00:02:16,920 --> 00:02:18,480 I appreciate it so much. 26 00:02:18,480 --> 00:02:21,280 Good to be here with you, Rebecca. 27 00:02:21,280 --> 00:02:22,280 Great. 28 00:02:22,280 --> 00:02:25,160 So we're just going to jump right in. 29 00:02:25,160 --> 00:02:30,960 I would like to talk a little bit about the history of chewing or rather the lost art 30 00:02:30,960 --> 00:02:32,600 of chewing as I've heard you refer to it. 31 00:02:32,600 --> 00:02:38,480 So for those who don't know what it is, let's talk about what it is and what we've lost 32 00:02:38,480 --> 00:02:41,080 and why it's so important. 33 00:02:41,080 --> 00:02:44,520 Well, that's a big question and a big one. 34 00:02:44,520 --> 00:02:45,520 It is a big one. 35 00:02:45,520 --> 00:02:47,200 I thought we'll just dive right into it. 36 00:02:47,200 --> 00:02:49,240 Yeah, let's dive in there. 37 00:02:49,240 --> 00:02:53,600 So chewing is what we would call a functional movement. 38 00:02:53,600 --> 00:02:54,600 We have to do it. 39 00:02:54,600 --> 00:02:58,880 It's an archetypal movement for human, optimal human genetic expression. 40 00:02:58,880 --> 00:03:05,240 It's really interesting that when we're growing and developing in that first 12 months of 41 00:03:05,240 --> 00:03:10,200 life particularly, but in that first three to four years, there's a lot of these movements 42 00:03:10,200 --> 00:03:15,480 that occur that are really enabling the next level of development to occur. 43 00:03:15,480 --> 00:03:17,040 And chewing is one of those movements. 44 00:03:17,040 --> 00:03:21,480 I think we're aware of things like rolling and crawling. 45 00:03:21,480 --> 00:03:25,600 We know that babies go through these milestone movements in that first year of life that 46 00:03:25,600 --> 00:03:28,560 enables them to get up. 47 00:03:28,560 --> 00:03:32,480 And I'm not sure how many people are aware, but a lot of people, more people are aware 48 00:03:32,480 --> 00:03:38,080 that all those movements, so for example, crawling is a classic one, gets both hemispheres 49 00:03:38,080 --> 00:03:40,080 of the brain communicating. 50 00:03:40,080 --> 00:03:45,600 We sometimes can find that children who haven't gone through these movement milestones can 51 00:03:45,600 --> 00:03:50,880 have compromise in the way some of those higher centres are working in the brain function. 52 00:03:50,880 --> 00:03:55,160 And so it's really important in that first year of life to make sure all these movements 53 00:03:55,160 --> 00:03:59,720 occur because what they're doing is activating to the next level of development. 54 00:03:59,720 --> 00:04:04,920 And the first seven years of life is about all this really early, really good, strong 55 00:04:04,920 --> 00:04:06,400 body movement and function. 56 00:04:06,400 --> 00:04:09,360 And chewing is one of those movements. 57 00:04:09,360 --> 00:04:13,320 And that's what I found really interesting because I have been interested in all that 58 00:04:13,320 --> 00:04:18,800 early developmental work for a long time from a body posture perspective because I'm a chiropractor 59 00:04:18,800 --> 00:04:20,120 by background. 60 00:04:20,120 --> 00:04:26,840 So I was interested in body posture and how those early movements affected people ongoing 61 00:04:26,840 --> 00:04:30,760 and learning and behaviour as well as body posture. 62 00:04:30,760 --> 00:04:35,240 So neurodevelopmental chiropractor, that's what I do by background. 63 00:04:35,240 --> 00:04:39,520 But I became very interested in the oral space because of the history of the munchie and I 64 00:04:39,520 --> 00:04:44,480 realised that chewing was one of those movements because I had all that other understanding. 65 00:04:44,480 --> 00:04:51,560 So chewing, if you don't chew at the appropriate time, it's a milestone movement when the brain 66 00:04:51,560 --> 00:04:58,200 is ready for that next level of development, we can miss a moment when the brain would 67 00:04:58,200 --> 00:04:59,320 automatically get onto it. 68 00:04:59,320 --> 00:05:02,320 And chewing is essential for eating. 69 00:05:02,320 --> 00:05:08,920 But it's also how we grow the lower third of the face and getting really good jaw stability 70 00:05:08,920 --> 00:05:15,240 and function is a huge part of keeping airway stability and function. 71 00:05:15,240 --> 00:05:20,800 So if the lower third of the face isn't well developed and strong, it can have really 72 00:05:20,800 --> 00:05:26,360 big compromise to the way we breathe, to the way we communicate and eat and drink. 73 00:05:26,360 --> 00:05:31,640 So it's a really, it's the movement that gets that whole thing happening. 74 00:05:31,640 --> 00:05:36,200 So sucking and swallowing is the very first functional movement that we do when we're 75 00:05:36,200 --> 00:05:38,680 very tiny babies. 76 00:05:38,680 --> 00:05:44,880 And then chewing, chewing is the next bit we've got to do to really get that well established. 77 00:05:44,880 --> 00:05:51,680 And then that chew swallow grade is the next combination of movements that are functional. 78 00:05:51,680 --> 00:05:59,680 So we're talking breastfeeding to baby lead weaning to eating solids, this kind of regression. 79 00:05:59,680 --> 00:06:05,840 Yeah and with they need to be able to manage pure razor smooth, other textures in there 80 00:06:05,840 --> 00:06:09,200 too, but they definitely need that activation of the chewing. 81 00:06:09,200 --> 00:06:15,880 And what's happened is we have tended to be wanting faster foods that are more processed 82 00:06:15,880 --> 00:06:19,960 and quicker and easier and less messy and convenient. 83 00:06:19,960 --> 00:06:20,960 They're cultures. 84 00:06:20,960 --> 00:06:21,960 Yeah. 85 00:06:21,960 --> 00:06:24,640 Yeah, yeah, those ones, disaster. 86 00:06:24,640 --> 00:06:25,640 Yeah. 87 00:06:25,640 --> 00:06:32,960 So that can really interfere with this chewing activation because if you don't get textures 88 00:06:32,960 --> 00:06:38,920 and things that are harder work and more difficult to manage, you won't get that activation. 89 00:06:38,920 --> 00:06:43,160 You'll be then stuck in the, you know, you're letting it get half the program fully activated. 90 00:06:43,160 --> 00:06:45,160 Yeah, if you won't get the full activation. 91 00:06:45,160 --> 00:06:46,160 Yeah. 92 00:06:46,160 --> 00:06:47,160 Gotcha. 93 00:06:47,160 --> 00:06:52,120 And if you don't get the full activation, then not only will we have jaw development, 94 00:06:52,120 --> 00:06:56,640 it sounds like we're going to have some kind of impact or synaptic connections and our 95 00:06:56,640 --> 00:06:57,640 brain development. 96 00:06:57,640 --> 00:07:03,400 Well, it can do, it's interesting because a lot of our sensory motor mapping is coming 97 00:07:03,400 --> 00:07:04,800 out of this oral space. 98 00:07:04,800 --> 00:07:10,680 That's the very first foundational piece of where we map a 3D space. 99 00:07:10,680 --> 00:07:15,280 You know, they put everything in their mouth, babies put everything in their mouth. 100 00:07:15,280 --> 00:07:21,480 This is helping them start to map who they are, where they are, how they are in the world. 101 00:07:21,480 --> 00:07:25,000 So it's such an important thing that they get a lot of things in there because there's 102 00:07:25,000 --> 00:07:31,560 so much sensory and then, so the information comes through the sensory back to the brain 103 00:07:31,560 --> 00:07:34,200 and then the motor comes in and loads of. 104 00:07:34,200 --> 00:07:38,960 So it's, it's all very complex, but amazingly designed. 105 00:07:38,960 --> 00:07:43,600 Those 12 cranial nerves that are firing into this area around the eyes and the ears and 106 00:07:43,600 --> 00:07:50,320 the balance and the movement and the beach of those teeth has all this incredible proprioceptive 107 00:07:50,320 --> 00:07:55,640 information, positional information that's telling the brain exactly where to land that 108 00:07:55,640 --> 00:07:56,640 occlusion. 109 00:07:56,640 --> 00:08:01,880 It's quite amazing how that's all there waiting to be loaded, but we don't realise. 110 00:08:01,880 --> 00:08:07,440 So we end up putting things in there like pacifiers and bottles and other stuff. 111 00:08:07,440 --> 00:08:09,960 So babies are very clever. 112 00:08:09,960 --> 00:08:13,680 We need to come and look out what they want to stick in there because that's telling their 113 00:08:13,680 --> 00:08:16,560 brain where everything is. 114 00:08:16,560 --> 00:08:17,560 Wow. 115 00:08:17,560 --> 00:08:18,960 That is, that's, that's mind blowing. 116 00:08:18,960 --> 00:08:23,320 And we'll kind of, we'll talk a little bit more and a little bit about pacifiers and 117 00:08:23,320 --> 00:08:30,280 the difference between that and a myo-munchy because I have, I have a little bit of advantage 118 00:08:30,280 --> 00:08:34,240 to our listeners because I've done some research on your site and I've seen them and I've talked 119 00:08:34,240 --> 00:08:35,240 to others about them. 120 00:08:35,240 --> 00:08:39,160 So well, disclosure totally sold on them. 121 00:08:39,160 --> 00:08:44,920 But before we get there, let's talk a little bit about proper chewing. 122 00:08:44,920 --> 00:08:52,640 And we know why it's important, so what actually is proper chewing and how does it impact this 123 00:08:52,640 --> 00:08:58,800 job on growth and occlusal balance? 124 00:08:58,800 --> 00:09:05,160 So proper functional chewing, it'll occur before they have teeth. 125 00:09:05,160 --> 00:09:09,120 You don't need teeth to chew well. 126 00:09:09,120 --> 00:09:12,600 Some children don't get their teeth to live, you know, a little bit older, 10 months to 127 00:09:12,600 --> 00:09:13,600 one year. 128 00:09:13,600 --> 00:09:15,760 They don't have to wait until their teeth are in. 129 00:09:15,760 --> 00:09:19,520 They have these two reflexes that are there. 130 00:09:19,520 --> 00:09:27,320 And if you put your finger in on a baby's lower, you know, gum there, they will, they 131 00:09:27,320 --> 00:09:28,320 will come against it. 132 00:09:28,320 --> 00:09:33,560 That little chomping reflex, it's called the biphasic chew response, is there from very 133 00:09:33,560 --> 00:09:34,560 early on. 134 00:09:34,560 --> 00:09:35,560 So that's there. 135 00:09:35,560 --> 00:09:36,560 This is a reflexive movement. 136 00:09:36,560 --> 00:09:41,600 So when something comes into contact, they will start to activate this. 137 00:09:41,600 --> 00:09:48,520 What we want is then when they get to the age where food's being introduced, and around 138 00:09:48,520 --> 00:09:55,120 six months of age is ideally when those reflexes are ready to integrate and the more mature 139 00:09:55,120 --> 00:09:58,520 chewing responses come into action. 140 00:09:58,520 --> 00:10:02,400 That's what we want to see is that between, between two and six and eight months, we want 141 00:10:02,400 --> 00:10:08,280 to see really functional chewing starting, where the baby brings the food in, moves it 142 00:10:08,280 --> 00:10:09,280 around with the tongue. 143 00:10:09,280 --> 00:10:11,880 The tongue moves it side to side. 144 00:10:11,880 --> 00:10:15,360 That lateralization of the tongue is part of the chewing. 145 00:10:15,360 --> 00:10:19,720 So the chewing needs to happen, the action of chewing and the tongue is moving it round 146 00:10:19,720 --> 00:10:20,720 in the mouth. 147 00:10:20,720 --> 00:10:24,520 The tongue has now is, isn't thrusting forward anymore. 148 00:10:24,520 --> 00:10:28,760 That was more the, the immature response because it was forward, backward. 149 00:10:28,760 --> 00:10:32,080 They're coming out to bring the tongue in for breastfeeding. 150 00:10:32,080 --> 00:10:37,080 Now the tongue is separating out more to stay in the mouth and it's getting this lateralization 151 00:10:37,080 --> 00:10:38,520 movement happening. 152 00:10:38,520 --> 00:10:42,560 So it's this side to side and then it's going to get the vertical and eventually it's going 153 00:10:42,560 --> 00:10:46,760 to rest up into the palate and that's getting that vertical height. 154 00:10:46,760 --> 00:10:52,040 So this chewing action, this up and down is kind of what they're doing at this age. 155 00:10:52,040 --> 00:10:54,840 It's more up and down and the tongues moving things around. 156 00:10:54,840 --> 00:10:58,760 When they get to around two years, they're going to be doing more of the more complex 157 00:10:58,760 --> 00:11:03,800 rotary chewing where they're able to take on more complex foods because they've got more 158 00:11:03,800 --> 00:11:04,800 teeth. 159 00:11:04,800 --> 00:11:08,800 So at the start, they haven't got teeth, so they haven't got that ability to really do 160 00:11:08,800 --> 00:11:11,080 a huge amount with the rotary. 161 00:11:11,080 --> 00:11:15,840 Once they get those two year old molars in, they can really take on the complex rotary 162 00:11:15,840 --> 00:11:19,720 movements of chewing as well as just the up and down. 163 00:11:19,720 --> 00:11:27,440 And these, these chewing movements, is it fair to say that that not only impacts jaw development, 164 00:11:27,440 --> 00:11:29,240 does it have some sort of an impact? 165 00:11:29,240 --> 00:11:31,280 Obviously jaw development impacts airway. 166 00:11:31,280 --> 00:11:37,280 So that one we know, but does it also impact their speech or could it? 167 00:11:37,280 --> 00:11:45,080 Yeah, it's also, yeah, so it's, neurologically, the brain is, these are foundational movements 168 00:11:45,080 --> 00:11:51,040 that then are wiring things up in the brain to be ready for the more complex speech movement, 169 00:11:51,040 --> 00:11:53,280 a lot of complexity in speech. 170 00:11:53,280 --> 00:11:55,040 It's hugely complex program. 171 00:11:55,040 --> 00:11:56,040 Yeah. 172 00:11:56,040 --> 00:12:00,840 So you've got to have these foundations in of, and the chewing movements, the swallowing 173 00:12:00,840 --> 00:12:07,160 movements, the tongue movements, they're all part of what will be required and the lip 174 00:12:07,160 --> 00:12:09,200 movements for speech. 175 00:12:09,200 --> 00:12:12,760 So they're the foundational basic movements that are required. 176 00:12:12,760 --> 00:12:19,320 And then that very complex program of speech is there to be activated, but it needs that, 177 00:12:19,320 --> 00:12:22,320 all those foundational movements in there first. 178 00:12:22,320 --> 00:12:24,880 It's like getting up to walk. 179 00:12:24,880 --> 00:12:29,800 You can't get up to walk unless you've done all of those early foundational movements 180 00:12:29,800 --> 00:12:34,920 of, you know, to start, first they start by lifting their head, then they roll, then they 181 00:12:34,920 --> 00:12:41,040 command or crawl, then they push up, and they crawl, then they sit, then they get up to 182 00:12:41,040 --> 00:12:42,760 upright and cruise. 183 00:12:42,760 --> 00:12:46,680 They're all part of the foundational movements that then enable you to walk. 184 00:12:46,680 --> 00:12:50,640 And that's all laying down the foundations in the brain for walking. 185 00:12:50,640 --> 00:12:53,120 And this is the same for speech. 186 00:12:53,120 --> 00:12:59,320 All these early movements, the tongue lateralization, the chewing up and down, getting all that 187 00:12:59,320 --> 00:13:05,800 joustability, as well as the coordination for our breath management. 188 00:13:05,800 --> 00:13:07,600 That's a huge part of it too. 189 00:13:07,600 --> 00:13:09,320 For speech. 190 00:13:09,320 --> 00:13:14,840 Speech requires so much to be able to manage the air that's coming to make the sounds for 191 00:13:14,840 --> 00:13:19,720 the, get the tongue in position, have the joustability to hold the different grading 192 00:13:19,720 --> 00:13:21,560 required for the speech. 193 00:13:21,560 --> 00:13:26,240 It's very complex when it doesn't work to work out which bit's not working. 194 00:13:26,240 --> 00:13:29,920 But the diaphragmatic breathing is a huge part of that. 195 00:13:29,920 --> 00:13:36,720 And so the chewing as a movement, what it does is it, yes, it activates and grows the 196 00:13:36,720 --> 00:13:40,440 growth centers in the bony parts of the jaw. 197 00:13:40,440 --> 00:13:47,240 It fires up into the brain around all this cranial nerve coordination that's responsible 198 00:13:47,240 --> 00:13:52,640 for all of these muscles to work. 199 00:13:52,640 --> 00:13:59,640 And then also you have to move things to get, we have a lot of complexity around all the 200 00:13:59,640 --> 00:14:03,400 little muscle groups in this lower third of the face. 201 00:14:03,400 --> 00:14:08,760 But they've also got to then relate to the upper cervical spine and the base of the skull. 202 00:14:08,760 --> 00:14:14,360 And all those relationships, those little muscles need to operate in a certain length 203 00:14:14,360 --> 00:14:16,880 tension relationship. 204 00:14:16,880 --> 00:14:22,160 And that's where you've got to move something and exercise it to get the growth. 205 00:14:22,160 --> 00:14:26,440 It's a very, when you do it all, it works. 206 00:14:26,440 --> 00:14:30,800 But it's very hard to write the program to make it work perfectly. 207 00:14:30,800 --> 00:14:37,840 But it does give enough exposure and activation to get these movements in that it will, it 208 00:14:37,840 --> 00:14:42,160 will establish the right vertical height and the right relationship to the occipital base 209 00:14:42,160 --> 00:14:47,000 which puts in the right relationship for the rest of the spine and the way we are in the 210 00:14:47,000 --> 00:14:48,520 upright space in the world. 211 00:14:48,520 --> 00:14:50,480 So it's all very complex. 212 00:14:50,480 --> 00:14:54,400 And it is, no, and it's fascinating. 213 00:14:54,400 --> 00:14:57,880 And unfortunately for you, my guess, it's going to just stir up a whole bunch of other 214 00:14:57,880 --> 00:15:03,840 questions because now my brain's going, so it is that connection, you know, especially 215 00:15:03,840 --> 00:15:07,560 when you were at the top of the spine. 216 00:15:07,560 --> 00:15:17,000 Is that part of why airway dysfunction can somehow cause that, that head forward posture? 217 00:15:17,000 --> 00:15:21,880 Absolutely, that's incredibly closely related. 218 00:15:21,880 --> 00:15:28,760 If we don't get ideal function early on, we will then be adapting to try and open that 219 00:15:28,760 --> 00:15:29,760 airway. 220 00:15:29,760 --> 00:15:34,040 So good airway function is oral posture, body posture. 221 00:15:34,040 --> 00:15:39,680 It's got to be both working together to get an ideal setup initially. 222 00:15:39,680 --> 00:15:43,480 And if you don't get an ideal setup in this first growth phase of life and you're trying 223 00:15:43,480 --> 00:15:50,200 to treat or work with a client who has this breathing airway dysfunction, you have to 224 00:15:50,200 --> 00:15:54,320 look at the body posture because both work together at this stage. 225 00:15:54,320 --> 00:15:57,200 They've adapted and that's what you see. 226 00:15:57,200 --> 00:16:00,840 They'll adapt forward to get the airway open. 227 00:16:00,840 --> 00:16:07,200 But that's because there's dysfunction in the way that whole system wired up originally. 228 00:16:07,200 --> 00:16:13,560 And especially if they then go in and look at the teeth in isolation and go, oh, okay, 229 00:16:13,560 --> 00:16:15,800 we need to fix that bite. 230 00:16:15,800 --> 00:16:16,960 That bite's there for a reason. 231 00:16:16,960 --> 00:16:20,760 That bite's telling us something. 232 00:16:20,760 --> 00:16:22,360 What set that up? 233 00:16:22,360 --> 00:16:25,520 What was the initial bit that set that up? 234 00:16:25,520 --> 00:16:29,320 And that's where we've got to make sure we get enough movement because sometimes lack 235 00:16:29,320 --> 00:16:33,480 of movement doesn't enable optimum expression. 236 00:16:33,480 --> 00:16:35,120 And then there's this low tone. 237 00:16:35,120 --> 00:16:39,960 And when you've got low tone, it cascades into that. 238 00:16:39,960 --> 00:16:47,760 And the airway needs tone, muscle tone to function well, to stay open. 239 00:16:47,760 --> 00:16:54,400 And so a lot of that upper airway work is getting the, you know, thinking about a baby 240 00:16:54,400 --> 00:16:59,480 that's pushing up on tummy time, getting all the opening. 241 00:16:59,480 --> 00:17:02,240 And that's when the diaphragm starts to engage as well. 242 00:17:02,240 --> 00:17:08,680 See, if we have these babies who aren't moving enough early on, often their diaphragm doesn't 243 00:17:08,680 --> 00:17:12,560 get in good engagement because when they're first born, they don't breathe through the 244 00:17:12,560 --> 00:17:13,560 diaphragm. 245 00:17:13,560 --> 00:17:17,160 They can't, it's this whole Brody movement. 246 00:17:17,160 --> 00:17:25,120 So it's about three months that they start to get engagement with top to the bottom because 247 00:17:25,120 --> 00:17:29,800 this is all, this isn't all, when they arrive, they're not in, it's not connected. 248 00:17:29,800 --> 00:17:30,800 Nothing's connected. 249 00:17:30,800 --> 00:17:32,720 This is the first big mechanics. 250 00:17:32,720 --> 00:17:33,720 So I agree. 251 00:17:33,720 --> 00:17:38,280 The baby starts to get organized, the program starts to load. 252 00:17:38,280 --> 00:17:41,240 And then they've got to be given opportunity to move. 253 00:17:41,240 --> 00:17:48,200 And a huge part of this lack of airway function is lack of diaphragmatic engagement because 254 00:17:48,200 --> 00:17:49,520 babies aren't moving. 255 00:17:49,520 --> 00:17:56,720 They're in capsules, they're in baby capsules, they're not getting enough opportunity to move 256 00:17:56,720 --> 00:17:59,440 to get that diaphragm and top to bottom engage. 257 00:17:59,440 --> 00:18:02,840 So then they're stuck breathing up here. 258 00:18:02,840 --> 00:18:04,880 And that's why tummy time is so important. 259 00:18:04,880 --> 00:18:07,000 It's tummy time is so important. 260 00:18:07,000 --> 00:18:08,000 Yeah. 261 00:18:08,000 --> 00:18:14,040 To give them lots of opportunity to get strong and to get all of that engagement in that 262 00:18:14,040 --> 00:18:17,560 rib cage and that diaphragm, they start to roll. 263 00:18:17,560 --> 00:18:19,440 That requires top to bottom. 264 00:18:19,440 --> 00:18:24,560 It requires all that through the middle area to engage. 265 00:18:24,560 --> 00:18:26,080 So rolling's not optional either. 266 00:18:26,080 --> 00:18:30,360 Rolling, chewing, they're all really, really important things to do to get your... 267 00:18:30,360 --> 00:18:31,360 As is crawling. 268 00:18:31,360 --> 00:18:35,040 So we don't just go from floor to walking, make sure they crawl as well. 269 00:18:35,040 --> 00:18:36,040 Yes. 270 00:18:36,040 --> 00:18:37,040 Make sure they do all these movements. 271 00:18:37,040 --> 00:18:41,280 The longer they spend on the floor and the stronger they get in their body in that first 272 00:18:41,280 --> 00:18:44,400 year of life, really, really important. 273 00:18:44,400 --> 00:18:49,200 And so it's something that when we're looking at chewing and that's really important. 274 00:18:49,200 --> 00:18:53,040 But when we're looking at these little children who've got these issues, we're going to look 275 00:18:53,040 --> 00:18:58,360 back at was there less quality in some of those milestone movements. 276 00:18:58,360 --> 00:19:00,400 Sometimes they'll roll, but they might roll once. 277 00:19:00,400 --> 00:19:01,400 They roll over. 278 00:19:01,400 --> 00:19:02,400 I know. 279 00:19:02,400 --> 00:19:03,400 They say, oh yeah, they roll. 280 00:19:03,400 --> 00:19:04,400 Then you go, oh okay. 281 00:19:04,400 --> 00:19:09,040 We want lots of good rolling because we know that that's when the diaphragm really starts 282 00:19:09,040 --> 00:19:12,600 to get activated and engaged. 283 00:19:12,600 --> 00:19:21,040 And these, these dual pathways, you said those start around six, eight months or is that... 284 00:19:21,040 --> 00:19:26,120 They're earlier, but we sort of introduced six to eight months is the window when they 285 00:19:26,120 --> 00:19:31,320 need to be really activated and really, because you've got to activate and then to get them 286 00:19:31,320 --> 00:19:32,600 integrated. 287 00:19:32,600 --> 00:19:36,200 And so you think about a lot of children who, yeah, struggle with feeding and speech. 288 00:19:36,200 --> 00:19:41,880 I would say there's high incidence there of children who didn't fully activate into their 289 00:19:41,880 --> 00:19:44,520 chew responses and their tongue lateralization. 290 00:19:44,520 --> 00:19:48,520 And whether there was, might have been tethered oral tissues there or some other reason or 291 00:19:48,520 --> 00:19:49,520 lack of exposure. 292 00:19:49,520 --> 00:19:55,360 So we've got to make sure the lack of exposure isn't what's coming against this next generation 293 00:19:55,360 --> 00:19:59,040 of kids because of that convenience world we live in. 294 00:19:59,040 --> 00:20:00,040 Yeah. 295 00:20:00,040 --> 00:20:02,680 So, and this is, this is a great time to kind of segue into this. 296 00:20:02,680 --> 00:20:10,560 Let's talk about what parents can do to stimulate all of these connections and proper jaw development. 297 00:20:10,560 --> 00:20:13,240 What are some things we can do to... 298 00:20:13,240 --> 00:20:14,240 Yeah. 299 00:20:14,240 --> 00:20:19,560 So, we've been giving them lots of opportunity for sensory exploration and sort of understanding 300 00:20:19,560 --> 00:20:25,040 that then putting things in their mouth is, is them mapping that area and making sure 301 00:20:25,040 --> 00:20:29,520 they have lots of different things to, and access to different toys and things that have 302 00:20:29,520 --> 00:20:34,400 got different textures and different shapes and all of that. 303 00:20:34,400 --> 00:20:37,680 I think that's the other thing we get worried about too is the germs and the dirt. 304 00:20:37,680 --> 00:20:41,440 And it's like, we've got other things to worry about. 305 00:20:41,440 --> 00:20:44,920 Like that, they're immune, they will work well, as long as they're all well-todd, they'll 306 00:20:44,920 --> 00:20:45,920 be fine. 307 00:20:45,920 --> 00:20:49,880 I always heard growing up, you have to eat a pound of dirt growing up. 308 00:20:49,880 --> 00:20:50,880 That's just part of life. 309 00:20:50,880 --> 00:20:52,680 It's part of childhood. 310 00:20:52,680 --> 00:20:56,000 So go be dirty, go roll around, have some fun. 311 00:20:56,000 --> 00:20:58,320 Yes, roll around, have some fun. 312 00:20:58,320 --> 00:20:59,320 That's exactly right. 313 00:20:59,320 --> 00:21:05,880 So certainly in that first few months of life, ideally getting breastfeeding happening. 314 00:21:05,880 --> 00:21:09,120 If they're struggling with breastfeeding, that makes life very difficult. 315 00:21:09,120 --> 00:21:14,760 So we then have to work out ways to introduce some stimulation to those areas that are going 316 00:21:14,760 --> 00:21:17,680 to get less input that they need. 317 00:21:17,680 --> 00:21:20,040 So we've got to try and up-regulate that system somehow. 318 00:21:20,040 --> 00:21:24,280 So okay, so breastfeeding didn't establish for whatever reason. 319 00:21:24,280 --> 00:21:31,040 We now have less than ideal intraoral or functional movement that's occurred. 320 00:21:31,040 --> 00:21:35,000 That sucks, swallow, breathe. 321 00:21:35,000 --> 00:21:41,200 So making sure I'm working with a bottle, they're doing pace feeding and really working 322 00:21:41,200 --> 00:21:47,400 at getting that suck, swallow, breathe happening, that they're swapping sides with feeding. 323 00:21:47,400 --> 00:21:52,720 That's really important because there's so much development going on body posture-wise. 324 00:21:52,720 --> 00:21:57,840 Head writing reflexes are activating about head posture, revision. 325 00:21:57,840 --> 00:22:02,360 So if you're always feeding on one side when you're bottle feeding, that baby isn't going 326 00:22:02,360 --> 00:22:03,360 to develop. 327 00:22:03,360 --> 00:22:06,920 That's one of the things in breastfeeding, you swap sides all the time. 328 00:22:06,920 --> 00:22:12,840 So you're always inside getting all that vestibular stimulation, head posture, or eye 329 00:22:12,840 --> 00:22:17,800 visual, as well as body posture or stability, all these things are happening. 330 00:22:17,800 --> 00:22:21,640 They're all functional movements, so as well as the feeding and the sucking. 331 00:22:21,640 --> 00:22:27,080 In case I was thinking of things like that, really important for parents so that if they're 332 00:22:27,080 --> 00:22:31,320 bottle feeding, making sure they're getting that, doing suck training with their finger, 333 00:22:31,320 --> 00:22:37,960 getting more activation, so often bottle feeding babies will use a dummy or a pacifier to settle 334 00:22:37,960 --> 00:22:43,560 because they haven't got the breast as the calming sucking. 335 00:22:43,560 --> 00:22:44,920 But making sure you take that out. 336 00:22:44,920 --> 00:22:47,520 If you're using a pacifier, take it out. 337 00:22:47,520 --> 00:22:49,560 Use it for calming, take it out. 338 00:22:49,560 --> 00:22:53,600 It's not to say don't use it, it's just frequency and duration are the issues. 339 00:22:53,600 --> 00:22:55,600 Don't let them have it all the time. 340 00:22:55,600 --> 00:23:00,720 So just use it at what it is for a calmative moment or get them sucking on your finger. 341 00:23:00,720 --> 00:23:04,360 You can really get that suck training working. 342 00:23:04,360 --> 00:23:07,520 And that's where things like the baby munchie come in really helpful when there are about 343 00:23:07,520 --> 00:23:08,800 four to five months of age. 344 00:23:08,800 --> 00:23:14,080 You can introduce little munchies and little munchies have little, they're very flexible 345 00:23:14,080 --> 00:23:17,280 and soft, but they have these little prongs on them. 346 00:23:17,280 --> 00:23:22,520 And that really helps create that stimulation because that's what we need to realise too, 347 00:23:22,520 --> 00:23:27,920 is that we want that there's lots of little sensors, many, many little sensors mapping 348 00:23:27,920 --> 00:23:33,400 that, that palate or the gums, that whole, it's so much sensory information in there. 349 00:23:33,400 --> 00:23:38,520 So the more we can have in there, that little toothbrushes that are finger cock toothbrushes 350 00:23:38,520 --> 00:23:39,520 that you see. 351 00:23:39,520 --> 00:23:40,520 Oh yeah, yeah. 352 00:23:40,520 --> 00:23:41,520 Yeah, great. 353 00:23:41,520 --> 00:23:46,360 Rub that around in there, rub it around, get the baby very used to that, but really mapping 354 00:23:46,360 --> 00:23:53,560 that intraoral space with them, especially if they've had a tongue tie because they are 355 00:23:53,560 --> 00:23:59,320 behind the eight ball when it comes to that tongue wasn't sitting up and stimulating that 356 00:23:59,320 --> 00:24:00,760 palate or growth. 357 00:24:00,760 --> 00:24:05,760 And so there's lots we can do with this intraoral stimulation. 358 00:24:05,760 --> 00:24:09,720 And yeah, that's, that's sort of the sort of things you can do as well as making sure 359 00:24:09,720 --> 00:24:12,680 they get plenty of really good tummy time. 360 00:24:12,680 --> 00:24:19,200 As I said before, to open this area and make sure they get that upper cervical stability. 361 00:24:19,200 --> 00:24:25,120 So by three months of age, a baby should very comfortably be on their tummy up, looking 362 00:24:25,120 --> 00:24:28,640 around, getting really good cervical range of motion. 363 00:24:28,640 --> 00:24:32,800 So these are, it's all really important they get all these relationships working with each 364 00:24:32,800 --> 00:24:34,040 other. 365 00:24:34,040 --> 00:24:37,480 And so they're just spending their timeline on their back. 366 00:24:37,480 --> 00:24:41,000 They're not getting this opportunity. 367 00:24:41,000 --> 00:24:44,200 And we need gravity to grow the jaw as well. 368 00:24:44,200 --> 00:24:47,560 So when you think tummy time, gravity is helping. 369 00:24:47,560 --> 00:24:52,680 If they're on their back, gravity is not going to help them because the jaw is going 370 00:24:52,680 --> 00:24:53,680 to see it back. 371 00:24:53,680 --> 00:24:54,680 Pull it back. 372 00:24:54,680 --> 00:24:55,680 Yeah. 373 00:24:55,680 --> 00:24:58,960 That's your first person that's ever said gravity to me. 374 00:24:58,960 --> 00:25:00,600 So that one just kind of threw me off. 375 00:25:00,600 --> 00:25:05,680 So yeah, never really thought about it, but it's logical when you think about it. 376 00:25:05,680 --> 00:25:11,040 And then I think the other thing with parents too is to play with them or mimic. 377 00:25:11,040 --> 00:25:12,600 They will mimic what you do. 378 00:25:12,600 --> 00:25:14,040 So bring your tongue out. 379 00:25:14,040 --> 00:25:16,400 Play a little games. 380 00:25:16,400 --> 00:25:17,400 Get them, you know. 381 00:25:17,400 --> 00:25:18,400 Yeah. 382 00:25:18,400 --> 00:25:19,400 Yeah. 383 00:25:19,400 --> 00:25:20,640 Engaging with their tongue. 384 00:25:20,640 --> 00:25:25,160 Get them, you know, when they're older, you know, not at three months of age, but you 385 00:25:25,160 --> 00:25:26,560 can get them licking things. 386 00:25:26,560 --> 00:25:31,840 Get the tongue out to, you know, to sort of explore different things. 387 00:25:31,840 --> 00:25:36,440 But in that three months of age, you'll see their tongue start to come out and you want 388 00:25:36,440 --> 00:25:42,440 that sort of them to develop that awareness and really see them making lots of noise and 389 00:25:42,440 --> 00:26:05,080 really starting to engage. 390 00:26:05,080 --> 00:26:09,800 You're listening to Airway First with today's guest, Mary Burke. 391 00:26:09,800 --> 00:26:13,480 You can find out more about the Children's Airway First Foundation and our mission to 392 00:26:13,480 --> 00:26:19,320 fix before six on our website at children'sairwayfirst.org. 393 00:26:19,320 --> 00:26:25,440 The CAF website offers tons of great resources for both parents and medical professionals. 394 00:26:25,440 --> 00:26:30,840 In our parents portal and clinicians corner areas, you can find educational and informational 395 00:26:30,840 --> 00:26:37,400 content including videos, blogs, our recommended reading list, comprehensive medical research, 396 00:26:37,400 --> 00:26:43,320 podcasts, events, parent support, and educational event opportunities. 397 00:26:43,320 --> 00:26:47,480 Parents are also encouraged to join the Airway Huddle, our Facebook support group, which 398 00:26:47,480 --> 00:26:52,440 was created for parents of children with airway and sleep-related issues. 399 00:26:52,440 --> 00:27:00,280 You can access the Airway Huddle support group at facebook.com backslashgroups.com. 400 00:27:00,280 --> 00:27:04,600 Are you a medical professional or parent that is interested in being a guest on the show? 401 00:27:04,600 --> 00:27:09,320 Then shoot us a note via the contacts page on our website or send us an email directly 402 00:27:09,320 --> 00:27:13,800 at infoatchildrensairwayfirst.org. 403 00:27:13,800 --> 00:27:19,080 As a reminder, this podcast and the opinions expressed here are not a medical diagnosis. 404 00:27:19,080 --> 00:27:24,120 If you suspect your child might have an airway issue, contact your pediatric airway dentist 405 00:27:24,120 --> 00:27:26,200 or pediatrician. 406 00:27:26,200 --> 00:27:53,640 And now, let's jump back into my interview with today's guest, Mary Burke. 407 00:27:53,640 --> 00:27:59,000 We've talked about this on some shows before, but I would really like to hear, especially 408 00:27:59,000 --> 00:28:04,120 with all the things we're talking about, your take on this connection between chewing and 409 00:28:04,120 --> 00:28:10,760 airway and sleep, which is something that I don't think logically parents always put 410 00:28:10,760 --> 00:28:14,840 each three together, but they are so intricately related. 411 00:28:14,840 --> 00:28:20,920 They are because chewing is the functional movement for airway stability. 412 00:28:20,920 --> 00:28:26,840 Those muscles that keep that airway open, muscles down here, the posterior aspect of 413 00:28:26,840 --> 00:28:31,160 the tongue, that's all part of our swallow mechanism. 414 00:28:31,160 --> 00:28:37,840 And when you chew and you get enough chewing activation, you then really manage all that 415 00:28:37,840 --> 00:28:38,840 food. 416 00:28:38,840 --> 00:28:42,640 So it's the chewing and the tongue lateralization that are what's, and then getting that ideal 417 00:28:42,640 --> 00:28:48,880 swallow pattern that is getting that airways sort of stable and all those linked tension 418 00:28:48,880 --> 00:28:50,560 relationships. 419 00:28:50,560 --> 00:28:58,400 So once again around, if we don't activate into chewing and get the growth centers of 420 00:28:58,400 --> 00:29:04,480 mandibular growth activated, so Wolf's Law says that a bone will grow in accordance to 421 00:29:04,480 --> 00:29:06,880 the forces placed upon it. 422 00:29:06,880 --> 00:29:14,480 So if you do not put force and pressures through bone, the bone won't grow to its genetic potential. 423 00:29:14,480 --> 00:29:23,680 So we need to really work those jaws to get the optimal length of jaw bone growth. 424 00:29:23,680 --> 00:29:28,240 We need to activate those growth centers and chewing is the movement that will do that. 425 00:29:28,240 --> 00:29:33,360 And then ideally when that jaw activates to come forward, as well as all those other movements 426 00:29:33,360 --> 00:29:38,000 I talked about before trying to get that jaw for the tongue, as soon as you get the tongue 427 00:29:38,000 --> 00:29:40,520 engaged and coming forward, it'll bring the jaw with it. 428 00:29:40,520 --> 00:29:48,120 But that helps get those linked tension relationships for that airway to be open. 429 00:29:48,120 --> 00:29:56,600 And so when you swallow, ideally when we swallow, the tongue should go up, the posterior aspect 430 00:29:56,600 --> 00:30:01,880 of the tongue will work, the pharyngeas and all the little muscles in there, remember 431 00:30:01,880 --> 00:30:06,920 all their names right now, but they pull on the eustachian tubes, they drain the ears. 432 00:30:06,920 --> 00:30:08,400 It's all super functional. 433 00:30:08,400 --> 00:30:11,400 The mechanism of swallow does all of that. 434 00:30:11,400 --> 00:30:14,160 It's what keeps the airway open. 435 00:30:14,160 --> 00:30:16,640 So that's the movement. 436 00:30:16,640 --> 00:30:24,840 So when you're stuck with a tongue thrust swallow, that means that there's not ideal 437 00:30:24,840 --> 00:30:29,200 functioning back there and it's never set up properly. 438 00:30:29,200 --> 00:30:38,280 And so it's, and chewing is just a huge part of that early programming to get all those 439 00:30:38,280 --> 00:30:43,560 muscles woken up and then working at the right length. 440 00:30:43,560 --> 00:30:47,400 So it's one thing to have a muscle there, but we all have in all of our muscles in our 441 00:30:47,400 --> 00:30:50,560 whole body an ideal length at which they can work best. 442 00:30:50,560 --> 00:30:57,760 And if they're too short or they're too long, they're not going to be able to get that ideal 443 00:30:57,760 --> 00:31:03,840 activation for that airway to just have the right amount of opening. 444 00:31:03,840 --> 00:31:05,400 It's not a static cue. 445 00:31:05,400 --> 00:31:07,560 It's not about, oh, it needs to be this side. 446 00:31:07,560 --> 00:31:09,000 It just needs to work really well. 447 00:31:09,000 --> 00:31:15,160 Those little muscles that, and at night when you go to bed, they should be active. 448 00:31:15,160 --> 00:31:19,320 It's not like they become inactive at night. 449 00:31:19,320 --> 00:31:27,640 It's just there's other adaptations we're using during the day to keep it open. 450 00:31:27,640 --> 00:31:33,480 So it's all that, it's all that other body postural stuff we're using to keep it functioning 451 00:31:33,480 --> 00:31:36,640 during the day that stops us having a problem during the day. 452 00:31:36,640 --> 00:31:41,080 And then we go to bed at night and those bits and pieces switch off and we're relying on 453 00:31:41,080 --> 00:31:50,080 the ideal activation of what should be there in what we call unconscious competence. 454 00:31:50,080 --> 00:31:52,400 It should just be working. 455 00:31:52,400 --> 00:31:57,240 That's when it becomes obvious that actually, no, we're having to consciously full body 456 00:31:57,240 --> 00:32:05,480 swallow or we're using a whole lot of other muscles to breathe and keep us working. 457 00:32:05,480 --> 00:32:07,120 That shouldn't be working. 458 00:32:07,120 --> 00:32:10,400 Does that kind of answer your question? 459 00:32:10,400 --> 00:32:11,400 No, it does. 460 00:32:11,400 --> 00:32:12,960 No, no, it does. 461 00:32:12,960 --> 00:32:15,680 No, I love the detail personally. 462 00:32:15,680 --> 00:32:24,000 So, you know, and then building on this, obviously, if it's not open, then now it's going to impact 463 00:32:24,000 --> 00:32:27,640 your child's sleep and now we're back to this vicious cycle because now we're impacting 464 00:32:27,640 --> 00:32:32,520 their development, mental states, moods. 465 00:32:32,520 --> 00:32:39,960 And this is where I think, and I've seen enough of it now just clinically to see the improvement 466 00:32:39,960 --> 00:32:48,760 when you can improve the level of tone in the child's body in general. 467 00:32:48,760 --> 00:32:55,360 So say you've got a three-year-old, four-year-old comes in and their, yeah, mum's noticed their 468 00:32:55,360 --> 00:32:59,000 mouth breathing at night, they're snoring at night, worried about their behaviors off, 469 00:32:59,000 --> 00:33:00,000 you know, they're not great. 470 00:33:00,000 --> 00:33:02,640 They're just in that. 471 00:33:02,640 --> 00:33:06,400 And you look at them and you go, okay, you can just see that there's just generally a 472 00:33:06,400 --> 00:33:08,160 little bit of low tone there. 473 00:33:08,160 --> 00:33:11,600 They might have their feet a little bit rolled in and the knees might be collapsing in a little 474 00:33:11,600 --> 00:33:12,600 bit. 475 00:33:12,600 --> 00:33:15,320 You can just see that they're, and they're not diaphragmatic breathing at all. 476 00:33:15,320 --> 00:33:22,960 They're just kind of, you know, they're adapting around a system that's only really activated 477 00:33:22,960 --> 00:33:25,120 probably to about 60 or 70%. 478 00:33:25,120 --> 00:33:30,400 They're not fully, but if you can get fully activated, but if you can get them doing things 479 00:33:30,400 --> 00:33:39,400 like on a ball, big, big exercise ball, big exercise ball doing stability exercises to 480 00:33:39,400 --> 00:33:43,880 get that nostril activation, because these kids will be very weak. 481 00:33:43,880 --> 00:33:46,080 You won't be able to get much out of them at all. 482 00:33:46,080 --> 00:33:51,520 Get that activation working, get their breathing working, get a munchie in there. 483 00:33:51,520 --> 00:34:01,240 You'll see quite a quick uptick in their sleeping and ability to sleep at night because we tone 484 00:34:01,240 --> 00:34:02,240 into the system. 485 00:34:02,240 --> 00:34:04,080 We're activating that tone. 486 00:34:04,080 --> 00:34:07,640 We're raising that level in the brain of the tone. 487 00:34:07,640 --> 00:34:11,840 There's going to be a whole lot of other kids who aren't that simple to solve, of course, 488 00:34:11,840 --> 00:34:16,120 but there is definitely a lot of them in the community that that's the primary piece they 489 00:34:16,120 --> 00:34:25,560 missed early on was getting enough upregulation in the system to hold the airway open at night. 490 00:34:25,560 --> 00:34:26,560 That's what it needs. 491 00:34:26,560 --> 00:34:29,320 It needs your level of tone in the world. 492 00:34:29,320 --> 00:34:31,000 And these kids, it's just hard work. 493 00:34:31,000 --> 00:34:32,000 They're tired. 494 00:34:32,000 --> 00:34:35,760 They fatigue easily because their level of tone isn't great. 495 00:34:35,760 --> 00:34:39,920 So everything's just a bit hard work. 496 00:34:39,920 --> 00:34:41,960 We're also being fully wired the other way. 497 00:34:41,960 --> 00:34:42,960 They're a different kettle of fish. 498 00:34:42,960 --> 00:34:48,320 But the low tone ones are definitely ones we can work with quite well. 499 00:34:48,320 --> 00:34:56,400 And once you're upregulated early, you can keep it there. 500 00:34:56,400 --> 00:34:57,400 You can keep that. 501 00:34:57,400 --> 00:35:01,360 If you get it into the system early enough, it becomes part of the wiring in the brain. 502 00:35:01,360 --> 00:35:05,160 This is what we've got to do is get in early because it's really hard to treat and fix 503 00:35:05,160 --> 00:35:07,480 later on because it's very hard to get into. 504 00:35:07,480 --> 00:35:10,120 I was going to say we can do it later. 505 00:35:10,120 --> 00:35:12,360 It's just so much more complex. 506 00:35:12,360 --> 00:35:13,360 Yes. 507 00:35:13,360 --> 00:35:15,320 And really hard to get it to hold. 508 00:35:15,320 --> 00:35:17,960 Whereas if we get it early, we can get it to hold. 509 00:35:17,960 --> 00:35:23,240 We can get it to be part of their nervous system the way they function. 510 00:35:23,240 --> 00:35:24,760 That's what's really exciting. 511 00:35:24,760 --> 00:35:28,680 If you get it early enough, it becomes hard because they're not fully grown. 512 00:35:28,680 --> 00:35:29,680 You can get it in. 513 00:35:29,680 --> 00:35:35,360 And each time they hit a new milestone, you might have to revisit and just get it re-activated. 514 00:35:35,360 --> 00:35:39,520 It will get to the point where it holds. 515 00:35:39,520 --> 00:35:40,800 Okay. 516 00:35:40,800 --> 00:35:44,920 So you showed a Myo Munchie a moment ago. 517 00:35:44,920 --> 00:35:45,920 You did. 518 00:35:45,920 --> 00:35:48,040 So I'd like to talk a little bit about those. 519 00:35:48,040 --> 00:35:49,040 It's my understanding. 520 00:35:49,040 --> 00:35:51,560 This is an invention of your dad's. 521 00:35:51,560 --> 00:35:55,120 And you've taken it and run with it. 522 00:35:55,120 --> 00:36:00,440 So for people that don't know what the Myo Munchie is, I'd love to show them, tell them 523 00:36:00,440 --> 00:36:01,440 a little bit about it. 524 00:36:01,440 --> 00:36:05,960 Let's talk about how it fits into what we've been discussing so far. 525 00:36:05,960 --> 00:36:07,720 Yeah, great. 526 00:36:07,720 --> 00:36:09,440 This is a Myo Munchie. 527 00:36:09,440 --> 00:36:11,600 It's like a little mouth guard. 528 00:36:11,600 --> 00:36:16,480 It's flexible and it's got all these little prongs on there and you chew it. 529 00:36:16,480 --> 00:36:22,200 So the idea is you put it in your mouth, lips together, nasal breathing and you chew. 530 00:36:22,200 --> 00:36:25,800 And these little prongs, they massage along the gums and the teeth. 531 00:36:25,800 --> 00:36:29,920 They create a lot of fantastic neurosensory awareness. 532 00:36:29,920 --> 00:36:33,920 And you also produce a lot of saliva when you chew a Munchie. 533 00:36:33,920 --> 00:36:38,040 And that means you've got to then practice that swallow we were talking about. 534 00:36:38,040 --> 00:36:41,400 So this is a great way to practice the swallow. 535 00:36:41,400 --> 00:36:45,080 When you can swallow with a Munchie in your mouth, you're retraining the back part of 536 00:36:45,080 --> 00:36:47,360 the tongue and the pharyngeal walls. 537 00:36:47,360 --> 00:36:53,920 So that's pretty cool because, yeah, so you get the saliva reproduction and then you've 538 00:36:53,920 --> 00:36:58,360 got to then work to go, okay, I've got to swallow back here. 539 00:36:58,360 --> 00:37:03,240 And so the kids, it's a great way of doing that because to try and teach your child to 540 00:37:03,240 --> 00:37:07,680 swallow using the back of the tongue of the pharyngeal walls is a complex task. 541 00:37:07,680 --> 00:37:10,000 So this is perfect two to four year olds. 542 00:37:10,000 --> 00:37:11,480 You can use this with little kids. 543 00:37:11,480 --> 00:37:12,760 And we've even got a baby one. 544 00:37:12,760 --> 00:37:16,240 I haven't got this with me this morning, but slightly smaller one that we bring in with 545 00:37:16,240 --> 00:37:22,760 the babies at around four or five, six months of age, up to about 18 months of age. 546 00:37:22,760 --> 00:37:26,520 And it's fantastic because they're oral in their engagement at that age, they put everything 547 00:37:26,520 --> 00:37:27,960 in their mouth and they love it. 548 00:37:27,960 --> 00:37:31,000 They put it in and they, oh, that feels really great. 549 00:37:31,000 --> 00:37:32,400 It's great for teething. 550 00:37:32,400 --> 00:37:38,440 It's fantastic stimulation, great dummy replacement or pacifier replacement for parents. 551 00:37:38,440 --> 00:37:42,080 Something to give your child when you're out and about in the parame in the car, when they 552 00:37:42,080 --> 00:37:44,880 get to that six month in gate point, they love it. 553 00:37:44,880 --> 00:37:49,440 They're much more interesting for them to have something that's stimulating the right 554 00:37:49,440 --> 00:37:54,360 oral function rather than continuing to give them a pacifier and use the pacifier when they 555 00:37:54,360 --> 00:37:55,360 need pacifier. 556 00:37:55,360 --> 00:37:59,840 Don't give it to them if they're happy, keep it for if they're really worked up or sad 557 00:37:59,840 --> 00:38:02,280 or going to sleep and you just put it in, use it as a tool. 558 00:38:02,280 --> 00:38:03,280 It's a tool. 559 00:38:03,280 --> 00:38:04,280 Right. 560 00:38:04,280 --> 00:38:05,280 And get out. 561 00:38:05,280 --> 00:38:09,080 But this is another tool that you can give them during the day that they will enjoy engaging 562 00:38:09,080 --> 00:38:11,560 with and it has positive impacts. 563 00:38:11,560 --> 00:38:13,160 How often do they use it? 564 00:38:13,160 --> 00:38:16,160 Well, with a baby, they can use it any time just in and out. 565 00:38:16,160 --> 00:38:17,520 It's because it's sensory. 566 00:38:17,520 --> 00:38:21,920 We're trying to get that sensory awareness and mapping for an old child. 567 00:38:21,920 --> 00:38:23,840 We want to activate the chewing responses. 568 00:38:23,840 --> 00:38:27,880 So we really want them to chew it for about three to five minutes. 569 00:38:27,880 --> 00:38:33,640 Ideally really working with getting good chewing and that'll get the lip competence, the chewing 570 00:38:33,640 --> 00:38:37,840 activation stability for the jaw stability. 571 00:38:37,840 --> 00:38:41,200 And then it also encourages that hung function and the nasal breathing. 572 00:38:41,200 --> 00:38:45,200 So it's a great little tool. 573 00:38:45,200 --> 00:38:46,320 And it also tells us stuff. 574 00:38:46,320 --> 00:38:51,560 If a child won't engage with a munchie, is there a behavioural thing? 575 00:38:51,560 --> 00:38:54,680 Is there some reason why they won't? 576 00:38:54,680 --> 00:38:57,000 Can they not breathe when they put it in? 577 00:38:57,000 --> 00:38:58,680 It starts to tell us things. 578 00:38:58,680 --> 00:38:59,680 Right. 579 00:38:59,680 --> 00:39:03,720 If you can't get a child to engage with it, that, yeah, we can use it as a dog. 580 00:39:03,720 --> 00:39:04,720 There's something going on. 581 00:39:04,720 --> 00:39:05,720 Yeah. 582 00:39:05,720 --> 00:39:06,720 There's something going on. 583 00:39:06,720 --> 00:39:09,560 Because, and definitely with babies, because babies will happily engage with it all the 584 00:39:09,560 --> 00:39:10,560 time. 585 00:39:10,560 --> 00:39:12,960 But if they never get to the point where they put it all in, that's telling us they're not 586 00:39:12,960 --> 00:39:15,320 comfortable breathing through their nose. 587 00:39:15,320 --> 00:39:19,000 Because it can be a great tool to help them retrain around breathing through their nose 588 00:39:19,000 --> 00:39:22,280 if you're fine resting with their mouth open. 589 00:39:22,280 --> 00:39:25,560 Just this is a great way to get some engagement. 590 00:39:25,560 --> 00:39:29,440 But if you're going along and you're going, okay, this baby's not comfortable with it in 591 00:39:29,440 --> 00:39:30,440 there. 592 00:39:30,440 --> 00:39:31,440 They always pull it out. 593 00:39:31,440 --> 00:39:32,440 They always pull it out. 594 00:39:32,440 --> 00:39:33,440 Okay, let's investigate. 595 00:39:33,440 --> 00:39:34,720 What else is going on there? 596 00:39:34,720 --> 00:39:39,880 So it's a great little tool that can help us decide who needs to get further investigation. 597 00:39:39,880 --> 00:39:42,080 Who's a good one for us to work with? 598 00:39:42,080 --> 00:39:46,000 And some of the other times that it'll tell us things too is around behavioural stuff, 599 00:39:46,000 --> 00:39:48,240 whether we're going to need a therapist to work with them. 600 00:39:48,240 --> 00:39:51,720 Or maybe you need to pet, because ideally you want a parent to be the one working with 601 00:39:51,720 --> 00:39:52,720 this. 602 00:39:52,720 --> 00:39:56,200 And just when they're reading books or in the bath and how there's different times 603 00:39:56,200 --> 00:39:57,320 in the day. 604 00:39:57,320 --> 00:40:01,480 But if the child won't engage, then sometimes they need to work with someone who's really 605 00:40:01,480 --> 00:40:02,840 specialised in that. 606 00:40:02,840 --> 00:40:07,160 And that can be your OTs in your speeches and things who really have got great skill 607 00:40:07,160 --> 00:40:09,920 sets around getting that level of engagement. 608 00:40:09,920 --> 00:40:11,240 Because it's really important. 609 00:40:11,240 --> 00:40:12,240 It's not negotiable. 610 00:40:12,240 --> 00:40:17,200 If you're getting that airway, getting in the nasal breathing working and working out 611 00:40:17,200 --> 00:40:21,520 what is interfering early on is really important. 612 00:40:21,520 --> 00:40:25,680 So I need to give you a little bit of a history about my dad and how he's... 613 00:40:25,680 --> 00:40:28,520 Yes, please do. 614 00:40:28,520 --> 00:40:34,120 So he died in 2016 and that's when I took this on. 615 00:40:34,120 --> 00:40:37,080 But it's been around for a very long time. 616 00:40:37,080 --> 00:40:40,440 1966 was the very first patent for the Maya Munchi. 617 00:40:40,440 --> 00:40:42,240 So it's been around a really long time. 618 00:40:42,240 --> 00:40:48,160 And his original premise, he was a dentist and he originally developed it to... and why 619 00:40:48,160 --> 00:40:53,080 it has a little prongs on it, because he developed a periodontal condition for adults. 620 00:40:53,080 --> 00:40:58,200 So he originally developed it to help with periodontal condition for the teeth and the 621 00:40:58,200 --> 00:40:59,200 gums. 622 00:40:59,200 --> 00:41:00,240 And so we know it's great for adults as well. 623 00:41:00,240 --> 00:41:04,440 You and I are talking children, but it's a fantastic tool for adults for maintaining 624 00:41:04,440 --> 00:41:09,760 and keeping good oral function and teeth, all that stuff. 625 00:41:09,760 --> 00:41:14,840 And then over the years, he got really interested in early developmental work and he developed 626 00:41:14,840 --> 00:41:20,360 a children's one in conjunction with the Saka Denil University over in Japan in the 1970s. 627 00:41:20,360 --> 00:41:24,440 And they developed a children's one and they did research at a Saka Denil University and 628 00:41:24,440 --> 00:41:30,920 they found that chewing a Maya Munchi for 20 minutes, this was for children three to six 629 00:41:30,920 --> 00:41:34,080 years of age, they found that... 630 00:41:34,080 --> 00:41:36,920 So this was two lots of 10 minutes a day, I think. 631 00:41:36,920 --> 00:41:42,120 And they found that every child who cheated improved their obicularis auras strength of 632 00:41:42,120 --> 00:41:43,760 the lips. 633 00:41:43,760 --> 00:41:48,520 And what they started to see was, this is when my dad got really interested, that the 634 00:41:48,520 --> 00:41:50,520 bites start to change. 635 00:41:50,520 --> 00:41:56,640 So cross bites and open bites will correct quite well by chewing. 636 00:41:56,640 --> 00:42:02,920 If we can get the right chewing forces in there, we can get really much better jaw stability 637 00:42:02,920 --> 00:42:04,600 and really help get the growth back on track. 638 00:42:04,600 --> 00:42:08,560 Because if you've got a cross bite or an open bite in there early on, that's the way the 639 00:42:08,560 --> 00:42:12,920 Bony architecture is going to grow around that occlusion. 640 00:42:12,920 --> 00:42:19,240 So it's a really fantastic tool for early intervention when people in the dental space 641 00:42:19,240 --> 00:42:21,360 are seeing those dental malocclusion. 642 00:42:21,360 --> 00:42:25,000 And so, yeah, he got really interested in early interceptive orthodontics and that's 643 00:42:25,000 --> 00:42:28,320 what he spent a lot of his career doing. 644 00:42:28,320 --> 00:42:33,680 And he did put this out into the world years ago, back in the 1980s, he... 645 00:42:33,680 --> 00:42:36,560 And people who've been around a long time knew about it back then. 646 00:42:36,560 --> 00:42:40,520 And he went into partnership with a guy called Chris Farrell, who I don't know if you know 647 00:42:40,520 --> 00:42:42,920 who Chris is, but he developed MyoBrace. 648 00:42:42,920 --> 00:42:49,200 So my father and Chris Farrell formed a company back in the late 1980s. 649 00:42:49,200 --> 00:42:50,200 And that didn't last long. 650 00:42:50,200 --> 00:42:56,400 But MyoMunchie was the very first MRC product that MyoBrace has now come out of. 651 00:42:56,400 --> 00:43:00,640 So there's a combined history there back in Australia, they're both Australian products. 652 00:43:00,640 --> 00:43:05,520 And this was the original version of, and a lot of dad's work was involved in the development. 653 00:43:05,520 --> 00:43:08,280 That's pretty cool. 654 00:43:08,280 --> 00:43:13,520 And so then I picked it up in 2016. 655 00:43:13,520 --> 00:43:18,840 And of course with my chiropractic background and understanding, I was really keen to look 656 00:43:18,840 --> 00:43:19,840 at the Myo function. 657 00:43:19,840 --> 00:43:23,960 I knew a bit, I started to learn about Myo functional therapy and I thought, ah, they're 658 00:43:23,960 --> 00:43:26,440 the people who'll be interested in the MyoMunchie. 659 00:43:26,440 --> 00:43:28,560 So that's when I did... 660 00:43:28,560 --> 00:43:32,400 I'd done some training in that a little bit before dad died, but I could see that that 661 00:43:32,400 --> 00:43:33,400 was the way forward. 662 00:43:33,400 --> 00:43:38,040 So I started going to America a bit and meeting with some of these people and people were 663 00:43:38,040 --> 00:43:39,040 super keen. 664 00:43:39,040 --> 00:43:40,040 So that was been great. 665 00:43:40,040 --> 00:43:44,600 Because a few people knew about it early on, like people like Kim Benkert who's been around 666 00:43:44,600 --> 00:43:45,600 a long time. 667 00:43:45,600 --> 00:43:50,080 She was a well-known early munchie ad kids and joined my father. 668 00:43:50,080 --> 00:43:51,080 I thought that was great. 669 00:43:51,080 --> 00:43:52,560 I knew a lot about it. 670 00:43:52,560 --> 00:43:56,320 And yeah, it's gone from there. 671 00:43:56,320 --> 00:43:59,520 And I've done so much research on it. 672 00:43:59,520 --> 00:44:01,280 I absolutely love it. 673 00:44:01,280 --> 00:44:08,080 And I know we're talking babies, teeny-tiny's here, you know, zero to three mostly, but 674 00:44:08,080 --> 00:44:11,920 it can be used on older children, teenagers and adults as well. 675 00:44:11,920 --> 00:44:15,320 I mean, it's not too late at this point, right? 676 00:44:15,320 --> 00:44:16,320 Definitely not. 677 00:44:16,320 --> 00:44:20,720 No, it's just setting your expectations around what you'll achieve. 678 00:44:20,720 --> 00:44:22,600 That's what changes. 679 00:44:22,600 --> 00:44:27,200 If we get in really early, we can actually change the way the growth is occurring. 680 00:44:27,200 --> 00:44:33,040 Later on, it's a great tool to work for the benefits of nasal breathing, correct swallow, 681 00:44:33,040 --> 00:44:34,360 temperament, dibular joint issues. 682 00:44:34,360 --> 00:44:36,520 It's fantastic for that. 683 00:44:36,520 --> 00:44:41,280 Keeping the teeth and the gums healthy and strong, because that's something I really 684 00:44:41,280 --> 00:44:44,520 see now as I'm getting to those older years in my life. 685 00:44:44,520 --> 00:44:52,000 A lot of people cracking teeth and root canals and all sorts of passive teeth issues, super 686 00:44:52,000 --> 00:44:53,880 expensive. 687 00:44:53,880 --> 00:44:58,080 It's keeping the jaw stability there. 688 00:44:58,080 --> 00:45:02,960 Once again, chewing is a foundational movement to keep our airway functioning. 689 00:45:02,960 --> 00:45:05,120 This is what we need to realise as well. 690 00:45:05,120 --> 00:45:06,280 It's not just children. 691 00:45:06,280 --> 00:45:10,400 This is really important for our pharyngeal wall activation. 692 00:45:10,400 --> 00:45:12,880 Keep our own spine mechanism working. 693 00:45:12,880 --> 00:45:18,520 We sponsored research with the speech pathology department here in Newcastle in looking at 694 00:45:18,520 --> 00:45:26,760 aged care because very strong correlation with when you stop being able to eat foods, 695 00:45:26,760 --> 00:45:29,600 they put you on purées when you start to choke. 696 00:45:29,600 --> 00:45:32,120 That's the same mechanism. 697 00:45:32,120 --> 00:45:34,240 Stronger correlates with death. 698 00:45:34,240 --> 00:45:37,320 You don't stick around long once you can't swallow very well. 699 00:45:37,320 --> 00:45:41,360 We're really interested in looking at this tool as a really useful tool to keep that 700 00:45:41,360 --> 00:45:43,640 faculty of swallowed dysphagia. 701 00:45:43,640 --> 00:45:47,240 Working with dysphagia patients. 702 00:45:47,240 --> 00:45:51,400 This has got so much application across so many different avenues. 703 00:45:51,400 --> 00:45:57,240 I don't know what to call them. 704 00:45:57,240 --> 00:46:00,280 The little prongy things inside. 705 00:46:00,280 --> 00:46:03,040 Does it have some sort of benefit? 706 00:46:03,040 --> 00:46:07,800 I mean, obviously it makes sense for the little ones, especially before teething and all of 707 00:46:07,800 --> 00:46:08,800 that. 708 00:46:08,800 --> 00:46:12,240 What does it do for teenagers and early 20s and adults? 709 00:46:12,240 --> 00:46:15,680 Does it still have that brain impact? 710 00:46:15,680 --> 00:46:18,600 Is there any other action there? 711 00:46:18,600 --> 00:46:19,720 Well, it's interesting. 712 00:46:19,720 --> 00:46:23,680 Chewing is a neuro-calmative. 713 00:46:23,680 --> 00:46:25,800 The action of chewing is neuro-calmative. 714 00:46:25,800 --> 00:46:30,920 The OTs, occupational therapists who work with munchies, they call it heavy work. 715 00:46:30,920 --> 00:46:34,880 Heavy work, sensory, a lot of sensory sort of stuff. 716 00:46:34,880 --> 00:46:37,800 There was someone, and I must track her down and have more of a chat to her about it, but 717 00:46:37,800 --> 00:46:41,960 she did some work with some self-harming teenagers. 718 00:46:41,960 --> 00:46:47,520 She gave them a munchie and they stopped their need to do that. 719 00:46:47,520 --> 00:46:48,680 Oh, you're kidding. 720 00:46:48,680 --> 00:46:49,680 Just interesting. 721 00:46:49,680 --> 00:46:51,520 Oh, wow. 722 00:46:51,520 --> 00:46:56,480 Chewing is one of these movements that it helps process the world. 723 00:46:56,480 --> 00:47:03,040 I just think we need to get chewing back on the table because it's not just about getting 724 00:47:03,040 --> 00:47:04,040 the food in. 725 00:47:04,040 --> 00:47:08,960 The nutrition, that's the other really interesting thing too, because the smoothies, all the 726 00:47:08,960 --> 00:47:11,840 good things, you can get it packed into a smoothie, which is great. 727 00:47:11,840 --> 00:47:13,760 You're missing the chewing. 728 00:47:13,760 --> 00:47:16,200 That you're not chewing. 729 00:47:16,200 --> 00:47:20,560 It's not only the delivery of the food, it's the chewing. 730 00:47:20,560 --> 00:47:22,120 Chewing does all these profound things. 731 00:47:22,120 --> 00:47:28,440 There was an amazing paper written by Leetja Paske, which was published in 2016-17, I think. 732 00:47:28,440 --> 00:47:34,480 Leetja is a speech pathologist and a dental hygienist and myofunctional therapist, so 733 00:47:34,480 --> 00:47:36,760 she's very knowledgeable in this space. 734 00:47:36,760 --> 00:47:40,040 She looked at all the research around the benefits of chewing. 735 00:47:40,040 --> 00:47:46,320 It's just phenomenal that when you chew, you activate the enzymes for digestion. 736 00:47:46,320 --> 00:47:50,960 You think about all the chronic digestive issues we've got. 737 00:47:50,960 --> 00:47:53,920 Like a chewing has to be involved in that. 738 00:47:53,920 --> 00:47:59,880 Chewing is involved with memory retention, for hippocampal function, for neuro-calmative 739 00:47:59,880 --> 00:48:03,920 sensory stuff, for jaw stability, for swallowing, for airway. 740 00:48:03,920 --> 00:48:08,240 It is such a foundational, phenomenally important movement. 741 00:48:08,240 --> 00:48:10,360 That's why I'm so passionate about it. 742 00:48:10,360 --> 00:48:11,360 Wow. 743 00:48:11,360 --> 00:48:12,360 All right. 744 00:48:12,360 --> 00:48:20,520 I may be completely off the mark, but listening to you talk, I'm wondering, is that why, for 745 00:48:20,520 --> 00:48:26,400 some of us, I'm not going to say names, but when we were in college or high school, chewing 746 00:48:26,400 --> 00:48:29,160 gum helped us concentrate when we were in college. 747 00:48:29,160 --> 00:48:31,200 Yeah, there's papers on chewing gum. 748 00:48:31,200 --> 00:48:35,120 Yes, there are papers that exist around the benefits of chewing gum for a living. 749 00:48:35,120 --> 00:48:36,120 Wow. 750 00:48:36,120 --> 00:48:37,120 Yeah. 751 00:48:37,120 --> 00:48:38,120 Who knew? 752 00:48:38,120 --> 00:48:39,120 That's crazy. 753 00:48:39,120 --> 00:48:40,120 Yeah. 754 00:48:40,120 --> 00:48:41,120 Yeah. 755 00:48:41,120 --> 00:48:43,840 So there's lots and lots of benefits to chewing. 756 00:48:43,840 --> 00:48:51,160 So it's, yes, we need to get it back into action for so many reasons, because it's another 757 00:48:51,160 --> 00:48:55,840 obesity, and obesity is another part of that whole thing where we're not getting enough 758 00:48:55,840 --> 00:48:57,520 activation into the chewing. 759 00:48:57,520 --> 00:49:01,120 And yeah, for the senses in the brain to know how much we're... 760 00:49:01,120 --> 00:49:02,120 Like it's just... 761 00:49:02,120 --> 00:49:05,840 When the physiology works, it's profoundly clever. 762 00:49:05,840 --> 00:49:11,960 Like I'm just blown away all the things I learned along the way about all the people 763 00:49:11,960 --> 00:49:15,360 who think, oh, wow, what else are we missing? 764 00:49:15,360 --> 00:49:17,880 Because we all have lost chewing. 765 00:49:17,880 --> 00:49:22,400 And I will tell you, every time I do a podcast, I learn something else, and this is going 766 00:49:22,400 --> 00:49:29,440 to be one of those where I walk away just kind of overwhelmed because I finally understand 767 00:49:29,440 --> 00:49:34,280 the concept around tongue placement and why that is so important. 768 00:49:34,280 --> 00:49:39,560 And especially around depression and ear, if you're in constant fight or flight and why 769 00:49:39,560 --> 00:49:44,960 little kids put their fingers in their mouth and they're, okay, I got that connection now. 770 00:49:44,960 --> 00:49:50,200 But I never would have put two and two together on chewing, just how impactful it is. 771 00:49:50,200 --> 00:49:54,560 I knew about jaw development, but that was really about it. 772 00:49:54,560 --> 00:49:55,560 Yeah. 773 00:49:55,560 --> 00:49:56,560 Yeah. 774 00:49:56,560 --> 00:49:57,560 Yeah. 775 00:49:57,560 --> 00:49:58,640 And those two together, the... 776 00:49:58,640 --> 00:50:05,280 If your jaw stability, if you're basically, if you're nasal breathing and you're swallowing 777 00:50:05,280 --> 00:50:10,640 aren't working well, your two hemispheres, like every time you swallow, the tongue should 778 00:50:10,640 --> 00:50:16,080 go to the palate and the two hemispheres reset and your pituitary stimulation, all the feel-good 779 00:50:16,080 --> 00:50:17,080 stuff that... 780 00:50:17,080 --> 00:50:22,920 And if that's not working and you're mouth breathing, so nasal breathing, those two things, 781 00:50:22,920 --> 00:50:27,600 I just think that's such a big deal for people who are going through life with an incorrect 782 00:50:27,600 --> 00:50:29,280 pattern of mouth breathing. 783 00:50:29,280 --> 00:50:33,120 You're so far behind the eight bolusos as far as your self-regulate, your ability to 784 00:50:33,120 --> 00:50:35,560 easily self-regulate those. 785 00:50:35,560 --> 00:50:38,600 And I think about those kids and I think we've got to work with them. 786 00:50:38,600 --> 00:50:43,280 We've got to give them back those two things because that's... 787 00:50:43,280 --> 00:50:45,000 They need that to go through life. 788 00:50:45,000 --> 00:50:50,320 This is a complex world we're living in and we need to have a few things on our side. 789 00:50:50,320 --> 00:50:51,320 Right. 790 00:50:51,320 --> 00:50:52,320 Right. 791 00:50:52,320 --> 00:50:53,320 Absolutely agree. 792 00:50:53,320 --> 00:50:58,280 And ensuring your stability enables both those things, that's how that fits in. 793 00:50:58,280 --> 00:50:59,280 Yeah. 794 00:50:59,280 --> 00:51:05,160 And so at the end of every podcast, I always hand it back, the final thought to the guests 795 00:51:05,160 --> 00:51:09,400 because, yeah, because you're the experts and you're the ones that know this best. 796 00:51:09,400 --> 00:51:16,800 So what would your final thought be for our parents that are listening? 797 00:51:16,800 --> 00:51:20,280 Small things make a massive difference early on. 798 00:51:20,280 --> 00:51:27,000 So don't feel overwhelmed if you go, oh, my child's got these issues. 799 00:51:27,000 --> 00:51:32,480 You can shift that trajectory very early on. 800 00:51:32,480 --> 00:51:34,480 Definitely worthwhile doing. 801 00:51:34,480 --> 00:51:39,520 The more we do in the first three years of life to help establish them well in the way 802 00:51:39,520 --> 00:51:44,560 their brain functions and how they are in the world, immune system, nasal breathing, 803 00:51:44,560 --> 00:51:51,480 corrects while I sleep, those foundational pieces sets that little human up for life. 804 00:51:51,480 --> 00:51:55,440 They will reap the rewards so much down the track. 805 00:51:55,440 --> 00:51:59,360 So it's really about understanding and sort of... 806 00:51:59,360 --> 00:52:03,720 And if you're thinking, oh, I think there might be something here with my child, talk 807 00:52:03,720 --> 00:52:04,720 to someone. 808 00:52:04,720 --> 00:52:07,040 Don't just go, they'll grow out of it because they won't. 809 00:52:07,040 --> 00:52:08,840 They'll grow into it. 810 00:52:08,840 --> 00:52:10,560 They'll grow into it and we don't want them to. 811 00:52:10,560 --> 00:52:16,200 We want them to have the best opportunity for their optimal genetic expression. 812 00:52:16,200 --> 00:52:17,200 So that's what I would say. 813 00:52:17,200 --> 00:52:19,200 Little things make a massive difference. 814 00:52:19,200 --> 00:52:22,200 I'm not sure which one I want to put on a shirt. 815 00:52:22,200 --> 00:52:25,280 Little things make a massive difference or they won't grow out of it. 816 00:52:25,280 --> 00:52:26,280 They'll grow into it. 817 00:52:26,280 --> 00:52:27,280 It's so true. 818 00:52:27,280 --> 00:52:28,280 Absolutely. 819 00:52:28,280 --> 00:52:30,120 Don't let someone say that's normal. 820 00:52:30,120 --> 00:52:31,880 Mouth breathing is never normal. 821 00:52:31,880 --> 00:52:33,480 Let's get through the bites there. 822 00:52:33,480 --> 00:52:35,200 Let's find out what's going on. 823 00:52:35,200 --> 00:52:36,400 And malocclusion, the same thing. 824 00:52:36,400 --> 00:52:40,080 If you're spotting your teet's kids, your kids' teeth aren't... 825 00:52:40,080 --> 00:52:44,920 If you can see there's what we call a malocclusion there, find someone who will tell you what's 826 00:52:44,920 --> 00:52:49,040 going on because that's telling you something straight up. 827 00:52:49,040 --> 00:52:50,040 Something's happening. 828 00:52:50,040 --> 00:52:53,720 Yeah, something's happening. 829 00:52:53,720 --> 00:52:58,280 Really early, the primary dentition, man, we can change things really well. 830 00:52:58,280 --> 00:53:02,360 Yeah, don't wait until it gets locked into the secondary dentition and then you've got 831 00:53:02,360 --> 00:53:04,440 to work with the teeth. 832 00:53:04,440 --> 00:53:09,040 Let's work with the environment that the teeth are landing in so that they land in a better 833 00:53:09,040 --> 00:53:11,280 environment than the right position. 834 00:53:11,280 --> 00:53:13,760 Yeah, and relationship torture. 835 00:53:13,760 --> 00:53:14,760 Yeah. 836 00:53:14,760 --> 00:53:15,760 That was perfect. 837 00:53:15,760 --> 00:53:17,960 Well, thank you so much for being on and all of this. 838 00:53:17,960 --> 00:53:21,920 I mean, you packed quite a bit in at a short time, so thank you so much. 839 00:53:21,920 --> 00:53:25,520 Really enjoyed catching up with you, Rebecca. 840 00:53:25,520 --> 00:53:27,760 Thanks for reaching out. 841 00:53:27,760 --> 00:53:32,400 Thanks again to today's guest, Mary Burke, for sharing her medical insight into each of 842 00:53:32,400 --> 00:53:35,040 you for listening to today's episode. 843 00:53:35,040 --> 00:53:39,200 If you're new to our podcast, please don't forget to subscribe, and if you enjoyed today's 844 00:53:39,200 --> 00:53:45,120 episode, leave us a review or comment telling us about what you enjoyed most. 845 00:53:45,120 --> 00:53:48,920 You can stay connected with the Children's Airway First Foundation by following us on 846 00:53:48,920 --> 00:53:54,520 Instagram, Facebook, X, LinkedIn, and YouTube. 847 00:53:54,520 --> 00:54:00,360 Parents can also join us via our Facebook Parents Support Group, the Airway Huddle, at facebook.com 848 00:54:00,360 --> 00:54:04,680 backslash groups backslash airway huddle. 849 00:54:04,680 --> 00:54:08,960 You can also find tons of great content for parents and medical professionals alike via 850 00:54:08,960 --> 00:54:13,040 the Parents' Portal and Clinicians' Corners of our website. 851 00:54:13,040 --> 00:54:17,360 If you'd like to be a guest or have an idea for an upcoming episode, shoot us a note via 852 00:54:17,360 --> 00:54:26,200 the contacts page on our website, or send us an email directly at infoatchildrensairwayfirst.org. 853 00:54:26,200 --> 00:54:30,200 And finally, thanks to all the parents and medical professionals out there that are working 854 00:54:30,200 --> 00:54:34,280 to help make the lives of kids around the globe just a little bit better. 855 00:54:34,280 --> 00:54:37,040 Here, stay safe, and happy breathing everyone.