Owner of OM Health, Rochelle McPherson, has over 25 years of experience in the industry and has trained many other health professionals in this field.

Owner of OM Health, Rochelle McPherson, has over 25 years of experience in the industry and has trained many other health professionals in this field.

 
 

Rochelle McPherson is one of Australia’s pioneers of orofacial myology (OM). Along with establishing one of the country’s first specialised practices, Rochelle also founded the Australian Association of Orofacial Myology to champion myofunctional therapy and raise awareness of the ways in which OM can work in tandem with other health professions to raise outcomes for patients. She is also a director and lecturer for the Australian Academy of Orofacial Myology.

Rochelle brings extensive international training, clinical expertise and a passion for education to her role as principal of OM Health. With more than 25 years of relevant industry experience, Rochelle’s expertise is sought out regularly by health and education professionals who invite Rochelle to lecture in this field throughout Australia and internationally.

Committed to advancing the OM profession within Australia, Rochelle combines her love of guiding clinicians to connect theory and practise with her satisfaction in growing the industry’s skillset. Her many national and state-level leadership roles within the OM and dental hygiene areas have provided Rochelle with a high-level overview of trends and issues affecting the wider allied health industry, and giving her an insight into the multifaceted ways OM can be utilised across a broad number of disciplines.

Work with Rochelle

in-practice consulting

Rochelle maintains a commitment to evidence-based practise and stays abreast of relevant research in the field. She works directly with academics and health professionals such as ENT specialists, sleep specialists, dentists and orthodontists to deliver training that is informed by current literature on appropriate treatment delivery and outcomes.

Her recent consulting engagements include:

  1. TMJ Therapy Centre, Melbourne
  2. Gentle Dentistry, Adelaide 
  3. Lindfield Speech Pathology & Learning Centre, Sydney
  4. Pedodontist Kiddies Dental Care, Melbourne

If you have thought about incorporating Orofacial Myology into your practice and would like further advanced training in this area, please get in touch today.

LECTURING

Rochelle also regularly delivers lectures in orofacial myology. Her recent engagements and topics include: 

  1. October 2017: EODO – “Orofacial Myology in the SDB Patient”
  2. September 2017:  EODO – “All about Myofunctional Therapy”
  3. July 2017: AACP Australian Chapter – “Ages and Stages of Orofacial Myology”
  4. August 2017: Australian Academy of Orofacial Myology – “Introductory to Orofacial Myofunctional Therapy”
  5. August 2017: Australian Academy of Orofacial Myology - “Introductory to Orofacial Myofunctional Therapy”
  6. June, July and August 2017: Best Orthodontic Seminars and Sessions (BOSS) – “Multidisciplinary Care for the Orthodontic Patient”
  7. June 2017: IAAD Orthodontic Course – “Orofacial Myology in the Orthodontic Practice”
  8. May and July 2017: Derek Mahony Orthodontist – “Orofacial Myology for the Speech Pathologist”
  9. March 2017: Oral Health Courses Melbourne – “Beyond Teeth”
  10. February 2017:  Australian Academy of Orofacial Myology –  “Introductory to Orofacial Myofunctional Therapy”
  11. February 2017: Australian Association of Orofacial Myology – “Allergies and Orofacial Myology”
  12. February 2017: Australian Association of Dental Hygienist Association NSW – “Orofacial Myology in the Dental Practice”

If you are interested in learning more about working with Rochelle for an upcoming conference, or incorporating orofacial myology into your practice, please get in touch today. 

Useful research for health professionals

A number of studies have definitively established the beneficial effects of orofacial myofunctional therapy in conjunction with orthodontic therapy [1-4]. Current literature [5] also demonstrates that myofunctional therapy decreases severity of sleep apnoea by approximately 50% in adults and 62% in children, and OM is also recommended [6] in the treatment of mouth breathing and sleep disordered breathing in children, particularly post-tonsil removal. Orofacial myofunctional therapy also demonstrates a significant reduction of the frequency and severity of signs and symptoms of temporomandibular disorders [7].

References

  1. Effectiveness of orofacial myofunctional therapy in orthodontic patients
  2. Relapse of anterior open bites treated with orthodontic appliances with and without orofacial myofunctional therapy
  3. The effectiveness of orofacial myofunctional therapy in improving dental occlusion
  4. Influence of non-orthodontic intervention on digit sucking and consequent anterior open bite
  5. Myofunctional Therapy to Treat Obstructive Sleep Apnea
  6. Mouth breathing, “nasal disuse,” and pediatric sleep-disordered breathing
  7. Effects of Orofacial Myofunctional Therapy on Temporomandibular Disorders