Thumbs up to Patti at Western Slope Orofacial Myology, LLC. We had tried everything we could think of to help our daughter of six years to stop sucking her thumb. Nothing worked and our dentist showed us the damage she was doing to her mouth and suggested we go see Patti. I wasn’t real sure what she could do and my husband was extremely skeptical. At our first visit, we were amazed at how Patti connected with her and how eager our daughter was to make a change on the first day. Our daughter quit that very day and we are almost at our two month mark. We have seen changes in our daughter both mentally and physically. She has confidence in herself and is determined to knock the habit. She and Patti have a “pinky promise” and she has bonded with Patti. They have made a connection in which she does not only want to let us, but Patti, or herself down. Physically, we have seen the measurements change from day one and the progress is absolutely amazing. From one week to the next, it is remarkable how she has advanced in a positive direction. It may not keep her from having to have braces, but the severity of her mouth and the amount of orthodontic work may be minimized because of this wonderful program. Only time will tell and the future looks bright. Patti has developed a unique relationship with our daughter and they have an understanding and must be honest and open with each other. Her patience and attentiveness is unwavering. She is dedicated to the child. She helps her make progress and makes it a positive experience. She uses a reward system in which the child takes responsibility and initiative to control her habit. She uses praise and encouragement to enforce her program and there is no question in our child’s mind that Patti really cares and wants her to succeed. The support that Patti gives us is amazing. We never would have imagined that a program such as this would really make a difference. But our daughter is living proof and we have experienced it first hand. We are believers in W.S.O.M. and we know our child will succeed.

My son’s orthodontist recommended that we see Patti for a consult. My son’s bite was very crooked. His side teeth didn’t match and his front teeth barely touched. The orthodontist felt that Patti could help us with the situation. Once we saw Patti, we also realized that my son was breathing through his mouth sometimes but often had his lips apart even if he wasn’t breathing through his mouth. She helped us get him breathing through his nose so that his lips could be closed and she taught him all about resting his tongue on the roof of his mouth and how to swallow without his tongue pushing against his teeth. He even chews with his mouth closed now!!!!!

Our son never sucked his thumb or used a binky. He sucked his arm. When he was tired, unhappy, nervous, or just ready to go to bed, he sucked on his arm. We saw Patti Braceland in June 2005. >From the time we left her office after our first appointment, he never sucked his arm again. Her exercises, use of gelatin spots, charts, and moral support (for both child and parent) worked a miracle. Not only has our son not used his arm for a crutch or comfort, his speech has improved tremendously. We have seen private speech pathologists weekly for four years, and have had the biggest improvement because of her exercises. His speech is much more intelligible now; you would never believe the difference. We are truly grateful for everything she has done for us. Our son never sucked his thumb or used a binky. He sucked his arm. When he was tired, unhappy, nervous, or just ready to go to bed, he sucked on his arm. We saw Patti Braceland in June 2005.  From the time we left her office after our first appointment, he never sucked his arm again. Her exercises, use of gelatin spots, charts, and moral support (for both child and parent) worked a miracle. Not only has our son not used his arm for a crutch or comfort, his speech has improved tremendously. We have seen private speech pathologists weekly for four years, and have had the biggest improvement because of her exercises. His speech is much more intelligible now; you would never believe the difference. We are truly grateful for everything she has done for us.

I had braces for 3 and a half years and my teeth were perfect but after a few years I had huge gaps and my teeth didn’t come together anymore because of my tongue thrust. The therapy that we have done has drastically improved the gaps in my teeth and my bite, and I can tell that the more I do the exercises, the better the results get.

Thank you Patti for helping me to get my teeth problems straightened out. My front teeth have never touched each other. I always had a big gap between the top and bottom teeth. Patti explained that a big part of the problem was that my tongue liked to stay between my top and bottom front teeth a lot. She taught me to rest my tongue in the roof of my mouth and how to swallow without pushing my tongue between my teeth. Now my front top and bottom teeth even overlap! I will probably still need braces but the orthodontist says it will be a lot easier now that I have worked with Patti.

Dear Patti, Thank you so much for helping me with my habit. My mom, dad and I have all seen a big difference. Before I was meeting with you it was so different like my mom and dad could barely even look at me without seeing me with my fingers In my mouth. Now they never see my fingers in my mouth while they are looking to me. Anyway I just wanted to say that you have changed my life so much and I love it. ** THANK YOU SO MUCH ** *** YOU ROCK *** ES I would ditto what she says and also share how relieved we are to see her free of this consuming habit. She used to bite the skin down around her nails until it would bleed. We tried to empathize with her pain and embarrassment and yet our frustrations with her chewing on her fingers challenged our ability to show compassion. We also learned some great strengthening exercises for muscles in her mouth that were contributing to the habit. We learned so much about contributing factors. Thanks for sharing your love and caring so much. You played a vital role in making a difference for our family. I agree with her –YOU ROCK!!!

I had heard about Patti from two different doctors in the valley. I, of course, thought it would be too much money for us to go see her. I also thought that my daughter would grow out of the thumbsucking that had already changed her teeth and mouth. Well, my daughter promised me when she turned 4 that she would stop. Well, 4 came and went and she couldn’t stop. I had a friend who said she went to see Patti and after the first visit, her son had stopped sucking his thumb AND gave away the blanket. I couldn’t believe it and had to see it to believe it. So, we called Patti and realized it would be worth the small investment in my daughter to stop sucking. It was worth every penny! After the first visit, my daughter stopped sucking her thumb AND agreed to mail her blankets to Patti to send them on “Vacation”. It was amazing. Patti’s way with the kids is so genuine and so caring. Having an educated third party involved is AWESOME. The deal was between my daughter and Patti. We called Patti, morning noon and night. She helped us through the worst and hardest time by offering to us to call WHENEVER we needed her. That made a HUGE difference. When you feel helpless as a parent, you could always say, do you want to call Patti? I loved this program and remained committed to it to help my daughter’s mouth, teeth and palate realign itself just after 6 weeks. I am always ready to share Patti’s number with anyone ready to help change their children’s habits. It is a commitment from all involved and a special bonding time with your child. My relationship with my daughter was changed forever. It was a trust and excitement thing that I had never experienced before with her. KP Basalt, CO My son had been grinding his teeth so severely that his top front teeth were down to the gum line. I had mentioned this as a concern to his dentist, but the dentist did not see it as a concern and told me not to worry as many young children grind their teeth. I could hear him grinding at night in his sleep. I explained the situation to my dentist, who recommended Western Slope Orofacial Myology. Upon the first visit, Patti was able to identify abnormalities in my son’s bite and swallowing patterns. Within 4 sessions, I began to notice a difference in my son’s bite. All of the exercises were fun and easy for a 7 year old to accomplish. Within 4 months, my son’s bite was completely different and I have not heard him grind his teeth nor seen any additional wear on his teeth. The short time spent with Patti was time well invested.

I was devastated that after years of braces, my teeth were starting to move back to where they started. After working with Patti only a couple months I noticed my teeth weren’t moving anymore and I didn’t have to wear my retainer to keep them in place. The exercises are easy and effective! JK Glenwood Springs, CO What would we have done without Patti! We feel that her help has saved us a lot of time and money (and aggravation down the road for my daughter). A friend told us that we should go see Patti to have her check my daughter’s teeth. Neither the dentist or orthodontist mentioned it but what my friend said to us made sense so we gave it a shot. My daughter often had her mouth open and we could actually see her tongue sometimes. She has had problems with a lisp and it never really went away until after doing exercises with Patti, we noticed it starting to disappear! Her front teeth changed; within 6 weeks we could see the difference. Her lips are now so much more relaxed and CLOSED. The orthodontist was also glad we started seeing Patti. We think more doctors need to have kids checked by Patti if they are going to need braces. I think she is honest and very caring about what she does. Thank you Patti!!!!!