[Acquisition and sustainment of automatic reflexes in maxillofacial rehabilitation]

Maxillofacial rehabilitation is often recommended in order to avoid a recurrence of orthodontic problems. Like all rehabilitation, the goal is to increase awareness of erroneous postures and praxis to the patients and demonstrate the correct ones. This is done by increasing muscular and articulatory ability and most importantly repeating these processes until they become automatic. It is this automatism which is the most lengthy and difficult goal to attain. Our intervention involves many aspects : the tongue (at rest, and during deglutition and phonation), the platysma, breathing, the temporal-mandibular joints, bad habits, and posture. The last session consists of verifying that the automatisms have been fully acquired.