Untethering Potential: Advancing Breastfeeding Outcomes and Functional Health from Infancy Onward

The positive impact of breastfeeding on infants and maternal health has been well documented in literature. Research in the last decade has increasingly highlighted that prolonged breastfeeding positively impacts jaw development and occlusion. After in-utero development, this could be the most potent time to contribute to the “function and form” relationship.

What happens next for breastfeeding infants - in comparison to their bottle-fed counterparts - is potentially a superior functional trajectory that impacts breathing and sleep health, eating, speech and posture.

Promoting and sustaining breastfeeding should be a public health priority as its impact traverses the lifespan. The contribution of oral ties in impeding prolonged breastfeeding needs to be considered in conjunction with other educational and clinical/therapeutic measures.

This presentation will demonstrate several outcomes of the surgical intervention and protocol developed at Enhance Myofunction, comparing the treated population and the general population, with breastfeeding duration being one of several comparisons.

Dr. Marjan Jones is owner and lead dental surgeon at Enhance Myofunction in Brisbane Australia. In addition to her degrees in Science (physiology) and Dentistry, she holds qualifications as an International Board-Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) and in myofunctional therapy.