Fixed anchors in your day
Link the training to something you do every day, such as brushing your teeth. With children, it is best for parents to practise along with them.
Therapy · Process and training
How it works.Week by week.
A few minutes a day, over several months. Here you can see how FaceFormer therapy proceeds, how the basic exercise works and what helps you keep going.
Getting started
From assessment to your own training
FaceFormer therapy is an exercise method. Your nervous system learns the sequence of breathing, swallowing and head balance through many identical, clean repetitions until it runs by itself. You can train on your own with the free app. A practice is advisable if you want to have symptoms checked or would like support.
01
Finding a practice
In the practitioner directory you will find practices from speech therapy, dentistry, orthodontics, physiotherapy and medicine that work with the FaceFormer.
02
Assessment
The practice first looks at your mouth closure, tongue position and head balance when you are not thinking about them, and then targeted tests follow. From this, the appropriate modules are chosen.
03
Instruction
You learn the starting position and the basic exercise in the practice in front of a mirror, until you have the sequence right.
04
Training at home
A few minutes three times a day. The free app guides you through the basic exercises, reminds you of your sessions and records your progress.
05
Follow-up appointments
About every four to six weeks, the practice compares the findings with your own baseline and adjusts the plan.
You can read what the therapy is about under What is FaceFormer therapy and How does FaceFormer therapy work.
Before the first exercise
The starting position
It applies to every exercise. Take a few minutes for it the first time.
Insert the FaceFormer. The membrane lies in the oral vestibule, i.e. behind the lips and in front of the teeth. The lip wedge points outwards and is horizontal.
Tongue tip in its place. A few millimetres behind the upper front teeth you can feel a small bump on the palate. That is where the tongue tip lies, without touching the teeth. This is the tongue reference position, which many people know as the “tongue resting posture”.
Teeth and lower jaw. The upper front teeth are in front of the lower ones, and the lower jaw stays in its usual position.
Raise the head, use the nose. The neck is stretched and the gaze is straight ahead. Breathe through your nose throughout the training.
Module 1
The basic exercise step by step
The basic exercise combines mouth closure, tongue position and swallowing. Every further exercise builds on it.
What matters is the right sequence, not strength. An inaccurate repetition trains a different pattern. Start with a few repetitions and only increase once you have the sequence right. The app guides you through each phase and keeps count.
Press the lips
Press the lip wedge together with your lips for 6 seconds, while the tongue tip stays in its place.
Bite down and swallow
Keep the tension in your lips, bite down briefly once with your back teeth and swallow once as you do so.
Relax
Release the pressure. The lips surround the lip wedge without effort, and the teeth do not touch. Depending on your training level, 2 to 6 seconds.
Repeat
In week 1 it is 8 repetitions per session, in week 2 it is 14, and from week 3 it is 20.
From week 3, the pull exercise is added. It works like the basic exercise, except that while pressing you gently pull the lip wedge forwards with your thumb and index finger, alternating between your right and left hand. You can find the basic exercise and the pull exercise with 3D animation on faceformer.de.
The schedule
How the training builds up
This is what the plan looks like for adults. A practice will adapt it to you.
- Day 1
Basic exercise with the ZERO
Three times a day, for example in the morning, at midday and in the evening. You may already try it at night.
- Week 3
Pull exercise and night
The basic exercise increases to 20 repetitions, and the pull exercise starts with 8, then 14, then 20. From now on you wear the ZERO every night. If at first it is lying next to the pillow in the morning, the old mouth breathing is still asserting itself during sleep. That is normal.
- Week 6
Extended modules
Modules such as the breathing exercise, the head balance exercise or the pelvic floor can be added. They complement the basic exercise rather than replacing it.
- Months
Consolidating
The plan in the manual runs up to week 52 and ends with consolidation. You discuss with your practice when to cut back.
ZERO and ONE. Both have the same size and shape; only the material hardness differs. After a few weeks with the ZERO, adults switch to the firmer ONE (blue or clear) for daytime training, while the ZERO remains for the night. You can get both together in a set. Children up to 10 years stay with the ZERO and train according to their own plan from the practice. For young children, the practice decides from when and in what form training takes place.
The modules with 3D animation
Keeping going
What makes regularity easier
Three things help most to stay in the rhythm.
Regularly rather than a lot
Two sessions on a busy day are better than three done irregularly.
Bringing it into everyday life
After a few weeks, you can also wear the FaceFormer without exercising, for example at your desk or while watching TV. Check now and then whether you are breathing through your nose.
At first, a lot feels unfamiliar. Swallowing with the FaceFormer is difficult, and your gums are irritated. This is common and usually improves with regular training. If you have pain, take a break and talk to your practice or give us a call.
Questions
Frequently asked
How long does FaceFormer therapy take?
Expect several months. How long it takes depends on how long a pattern has existed and how regularly you train. When complaints will change cannot be predicted.
How can I tell that a pattern is established?
Dr. Klaus-Jürgen Berndsen names three tests. Nasal breathing, tongue position and head balance are right while you are thinking about something else. Your mouth stays closed at night too, without anything holding it. And it is not just the one clean swallow in the exercise that succeeds, but the many swallows over a whole day.
Do I have to train three times a day permanently?
No. Once the pattern is consolidated, in our view maintenance training twice a week is usually enough. You should not stop completely, because what is not practised fades.
My gums or the skin inside my mouth are irritated
Temporarily reduce to 8 repetitions, two to three times a day, and then increase again. Massage your gums with a moistened soft toothbrush. A little lip balm on both sides of the membrane makes the training more comfortable. If you have pain, take a break and talk to your practice.
Can I wear braces at the same time?
Yes, ZERO and ONE can be used together with orthodontic appliances. Discuss this with your practice and do not stop treatments prescribed by a doctor on your own.
Does health insurance cover the costs?
Health insurers do not usually cover the FaceFormer itself. How the treatment in the practice is billed is something to clarify there. More on this under Health insurance and the FaceFormer.
Read more
More on FaceFormer therapy
Becoming a FaceFormer expert: training for professionals
Two seminar days with Dr. Klaus-Jürgen Berndsen and Sabine Berndsen for doctors, dentistry, orthodontics, speech therapy, physiotherapy and osteopathy. You get to know the...
Areas of application of FaceFormer therapy
FaceFormer therapy is used in many specialities, from speech therapy to sleep medicine. This overview groups the areas of application from the exercise instructions...
How FaceFormer therapy works
Breathing, swallowing and head balance form a functional circuit that stands at the start of many causal chains. This article shows why FaceFormer therapy...
What is the FaceFormer? Device and therapy at a glance
FaceFormer therapy is an exercise method using a Class I medical device. Here you can find out how the lip wedge and membrane work,...
Material and manufacture of the FaceFormer
Which silicone the FaceFormer is made from, how it is tested and why the membrane and lip wedge are shaped the way they are....
Get started
Ready for the training?
The free FaceFormer app guides you through the basic exercises, counts along and reminds you of your sessions. If you wish, a practice from the practitioner directory can support you.
FaceFormer® ZERO + ONE
Both material hardnesses for getting started, day and night. The set for adults.
€64,33incl. VAT, free shipping
In the shop
FaceFormer® ZERO
The softer FaceFormer for getting started, for children and for the night.
€39,90incl. VAT, free shipping
In the shop
FaceFormer® ZERO Children's Set
ZERO with hygiene box, plush bag and success book with stamp.
€59,90incl. VAT, free shipping
In the shop
FaceFormer training aims to restore the physiological setting of the basic functions of breathing, swallowing and head balance, with lip closure and the tongue reference position, thereby creating the conditions under which complaints can improve. It does not replace a medical assessment. You can find practitioners near you in the practitioner directory.
