Guiding, not forcing
The lip wedge guides the lips towards the centre of the mouth and provides noticeable feedback.
Therapy method · How it works
Three functions,one pattern.
Breathing, swallowing and head balance run without interruption, day and night. FaceFormer therapy trains the pattern of these three basic functions.
The model
The triadic functional circuit
Breathing sets the rhythm for safe swallowing, swallowing maintains the tension in the mouth and throat, and head balance keeps the airway and the swallowing pathway clear.
Breathing
The nose filters, warms and moistens the air. At the same time, nasal breathing gives the nervous system a steady rhythm.
Swallowing
Many hundreds to a thousand times a day, even during sleep. Each time, the tongue rests against the palate and the lips close.
Head balance
A finely tuned network of muscles balances the head on the spine. Its position helps determine the width of the airway.
Each function supports the other two. A function corrected on its own cannot maintain its sequence as long as the others remain in the old pattern. That is why the FaceFormer trains all three together. You can read more about the device in the article What is FaceFormer therapy.
The causal chain
From deviation to complaint
When the interplay gets out of step, the body compensates and the effort increases. Dr. Klaus-Jürgen Berndsen describes four stages.
The pattern deviates
Breathing runs through the mouth, the tongue lies low instead of against the palate, the head moves forward. You don't feel anything yet.
The body compensates
Other muscles step in, for example in the neck, to keep the airway open.
Form follows
Over time, a narrow, high palate, misaligned teeth or a changed posture may develop, for example.
Complaints appear
Snoring, jaw joint or neck complaints are often the end of a development that began years earlier.
The triad stands at the start of many such chains; many complaints can be connected with it, but not every one. What the training achieves depends on how long a pattern has existed, whether structures have changed and how regularly you practise. Sabine and Dr. Klaus-Jürgen Berndsen summarise recurring findings as Cranio-Cervical Dysfunction Syndrome (CCDS), a working model from practice, not a diagnosis from an international classification. Areas of use are described in the article Applications and specialities.
The control pattern
Programme before strength
The nervous system learns compensatory patterns through repetition. After thousands of breaths and swallows, the compensation feels normal and the correct sequence feels unfamiliar.
More strength alone
If you only increase muscle strength, you simply perform the old pattern more forcefully.
Relearning the pattern
FaceFormer therapy targets the control pattern, with many identical, clean repetitions at short intervals.
Slight negative pressure
The membrane behind the lips seals the oral cavity. When you swallow, the tongue rests against the palate.
Only the correct sequence works
Compensatory movements don't work with the FaceFormer. The brain actively plans and corrects, and that is how it learns.
Returning
Why the pattern can find its way back
01
Returning rather than reinventing
Breathing, swallowing and head movements are practised even before birth and are laid down in the brainstem. Compensatory patterns overlay this pattern, but they do not erase it.
02
All three at once
The brainstem controls breathing, swallowing and tongue movement together. That is why lip closure has further effects, reaching the tongue, soft palate, nose and head balance.
03
A fixed point of reference
The incisive papilla behind the upper front teeth is densely supplied with nerve endings. The tongue orients itself to it.
04
Accuracy over quantity
An inaccurate exercise trains a different pattern. That is why every clean repetition counts for more than many quick ones.
In everyday life
Day and night
During the day you practise consciously, for a few minutes three times a day. After a few weeks you also wear the FaceFormer ZERO at night, without practising. During sleep, mouth breathing asserts itself most easily, and that is where it supports mouth closure and nasal breathing.
A pattern counts as newly learned when it runs without attention, outlasts the training and carries over into everyday life. You can find the exercise plan in the article FaceFormer therapy step by step.
Limits are part of it. In a space that is anatomically too narrow, a better pattern does not create room. Worn tooth substance or damaged joint surfaces do not regress; what can be changed is the load. And the training depends on regularity.
Research
What a study shows
In a randomised study at the University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf, 45 children and adolescents trained for six months, 26 with the FaceFormer and 19 with myofunctional therapy without a device. 30 of them were re-examined (17 with, 13 without a device); the percentages refer to these.
Lip strength increased in both groups, faster with the FaceFormer. No difference was found in pronunciation. The study makes no statement about long-term stability.
Mouth breathing
before
after 6 months
without device before
without device after
Faulty swallowing pattern after 6 months
with FaceFormer
without device
Schwan M, doctoral thesis, University of Hamburg 2007. Korbmacher et al., Int J Orofacial Myology 2004. Randomised, 45 children and adolescents, 30 re-examined after six months (17 with, 13 without device).
Questions
Frequently asked
Do I need a lot of strength for the training?
No. What matters is that lips, tongue, swallowing and breathing work together in the right sequence. Start with a few accurate repetitions.
Does the training replace my current treatment?
No. It can be combined with many treatments, for example with braces or speech therapy. Please do not stop therapies prescribed by a doctor on your own; instead, talk to your practice.
Who is the training for?
For children and adults. For young children, the practice decides from what age and in what form training takes place. Children up to the age of ten train with the softer FaceFormer ZERO.
Sources
- Schwan M (2007): Doctoral thesis, University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf. Full text
- Korbmacher HM, Schwan M, Berndsen S, Bull J, Kahl-Nieke B (2004): Evaluation of a new concept of myofunctional therapy in children. Int J Orofacial Myology 30:39-52. PubMed
- Jean A (2001): Brain stem control of swallowing: neuronal network and cellular mechanisms. Physiological Reviews 81(2):929-969. DOI
- Endo C, Sato T, Yajima T, Igarashi K, Ichikawa H (2018): Innervation of the human incisive papilla. Cells Tissues Organs 205(2). DOI
- Berndsen K (in preparation): Trust the Triad. Chapters Triadic pattern regulation, Direct regulation and emergent correction, Form and stimulus architecture.
- Berndsen K, Berndsen S (2023): FaceFormer-Therapie. Neurophysiologische Kausaltherapie bei CCDS. In: Langenhan J, Kopp S (eds.): Zahnärztliche Schlafmedizin. Thieme, pp. 285-302.
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...
FaceFormer therapy step by step
From the assessment in the practice to the starting position and the basic exercise, through to the week-by-week schedule. Plus what helps you keep...
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...
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.
