Myofunctional Therapist Kimi Nishimoto on How REMplenish Enhances her

by Kimi Nishimoto, RDH, OMT

Virtual Myofunctional Therapist
www.mouthmusclememory.com
Cohost of The Munch Bunch Podcast

My name is Kimi Nishimoto and I am a Myofunctional Therapist. I help kids and adults with airway disorders and poor sleep quality. Everything I do is to teach people how to use their body to function correctly. A big part of my work is to teach people how to use their tongue to swallow correctly and to keep the whole tongue resting up in the roof of the mouth.

I have been using the REMplenish myo-nozzle since 2021. What makes my program unique is that I use the REMplenish with ALL of my clients, young kids and adults. I have found it to be very helpful for my clients with low awareness of their tongue, they will say “I can feel how I am supposed to swallow, and I’ve never swallowed that way ever before”. Or I have also heard “Wow it feels really good to swallow the right way!”

As a Myofunctional Therapist I have found the REMplenish to be helpful for long term tongue thrust retraining. Many clients will know the mechanics of what to do but will revert back to old easy habits. The REMplenish will be around after therapy so they can continue to work on the good patterns we developed and maintaining the muscle tone of the tongue and throat muscles from therapy. I would also much rather my clients have a nice silicone straw to remember to swallow correctly vs a spiked appliance on their teeth.

The other very helpful application for the REMplenish has been for helping my “noisy swallowers”, people who may be touching the spot when they swallow but the middle and back of the tongue have a hard time compressing to the palate to swallow. This is me as well, I have a very high and narrow palate and my tongue has to work hard to raise up in the middle to pump against the palate.

Air swallowing is another incredibly helpful application for the REMplenish. Many people with chronic bloating, gassiness, and burping from swallowing air have found relief with the combination of Myofunctional Therapy and the REMplenish. We often tell parents of tongue-tied babies that spitting up is more from air swallowing than from too much acid, but we forget adults swallow air too. Teaching the mechanics of anchoring the tip to the base of the nozzle and pumping with the middle of the tongue limits how much air is swallowed. I had one middle aged man who would burp constantly all day, and by the end of therapy he forgot that he had that problem before we started.

Lastly, I love using the REMplenish for the kids I work with. It helps them to intuitively swallow and build those muscles. Young kids can have a hard time with complex instructions and feel frustrated if it doesn’t make sense to their brains. I am currently working with a little boy with cerebral palsy, and he has very little body awareness, but he is able to use his REMplenish which is very exciting!

You may be wondering how I incorporate the REMplenish with all my clients. For simplicity I built in the cost of the straw and nozzle into my program kit fee. This way everyone can get it and it is not another barrier of asking them to go on the website and order it directly. They didn’t want to spend the extra money in the past, so I just order in bulk and build it into my fee.

works better than expected.

I had expected this water bottle to just help train my tongue. I was pleasantly surprised that it also worked the muscles on the back of my throat.

Hasn’t stopped my snoring

Hasn’t impacted my or my child’s snoring within 2 months but don’t think it’s damaged anything.

REMplenish Jr™ Myo-Nozzle - Child

Wonderful product! I highly recommend it.

It really works!

This straw is helping our 13 year old son breathe through his nose because he is starting to hold his tongue to the roof of his mouth. His dentist explained that his teeth are very delayed in falling out because his tongue is not positioned properly, so it is not pushing those teeth out.

After 2 days of using this, his teeth started wiggling after they stopped for almost 2 years. He’s excited at the possibility that the dentist might not need to pull those teeth after all.

Not sure yet

Im not sure if this works or not. I feel like maybe I am breathing slightly better at night, but I’m still waking up with a very dry mouth. I also feel like it makes my tongue and roof of mouth break out or maybe it’s just not used to it yet. Just slightly, but the two days I forgot the bottle at home, my tongue and mouth felt better. Barely a month, if that, of almost daily use so I’ll keep at it.

Stronger Tongue and Mouth

I highly recommend this device to anyone who wants to improve their quality of life. My tongue is stronger and it now naturally sits pressed to the roof of my mouth instead of the bottom of my mouth.

It takes a bit of time and practice to get the technique right. Unfortunately it is possible to suck water out of the straw while using it incorrectly, so learning the proper technique is very important. I watched their video on YouTube for this. Also, the water stream is lower than other methods of drinking, so some patience is needed especially when very thirsty.

I think the price should be lower. I know that if we compare it to a medical device then the price seems reasonable, but it prevents me from buying it for friends and family. When I take my water bottle out I have to be careful that I don’t lose it, damage it, etc. Also, the water bottle leaks when closed so I have to treat it more of like a stanley cup than like a water bottle. The device is a small thing similar to a pacifier. I think the profit margin on it must be extremely high.

Myofunctional Therapist Kimi Nishimoto on How REMplenish Enhances her Therapy Practice

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