About Me
Hi!
I'm Linda Cannon, an Orofacial Myofunctional Therapist practicing in The East San Francisco Bay Area. I serve children, teens and adults with dysfunctional orofacial (mouth, face, and neck) problems, using individualized Myofunctional Exercises designed to balance and normalize oral rest postures and build and restore healthy neuromuscular functions. I see clients both in person (typically in their homes) and online, through Doxy.me, a HIPAA Compliant virtual treatment platform.
I was born and raised in the Bay Area, and loved the dentist who always sang to us as he treated my sister and I. I also developed a love for "Life-Long Learning", before it was a thing. As a young adult, I returned to college and eventually completed my Dental Hygiene degree at Chabot College, where I had both a great education, and bonded with the other wonderful members of my class. (We just celebrated our 40th reunion last year!) I then practiced clinical Dental Hygiene in the East Bay for decades, where many questions occurred to me while I was treating my patients:
- Why do so many people (including me) have overactive gag reflexes?
- Why couldn't I see the back of so many patient's throats (Airways)?
- Why do some people only Mouth Breathe and have very little saliva?
- Why do some patients fall asleep in my dental chair every time they come in for their cleanings?
- Why do people have orthodontic treatment, come back in 1-2 years, and their bites had relapsed with crowding, open bites or crossbites?
- Why do we make nightguards for those that clench and grind their teeth, and they chew through them anyway?
After decades of working in private dental offices, I had the opportunity to work with the Alameda County Public Health Department, serving low income children and their families. That prompted me to complete my Bachelor's Degree in Dental Hygiene with an emphasis in Public Health, where my eyes were opened to Myofunctional Disorders! THEN all those previous questions made sense! I then studied Orofacial Myofunctional Therapy (with both the AOMT and IAOM, and have continued to do so since 2018. I love getting to know my clients, designing an individual, interprofessional therapy treatment plan, then working with each of them to improve their oral rest postures, improve/normalize nasal breathing, analyze and improve Sleep Hygiene, and watch their overall health improve!
*Give me a call, or send me an email to set up a free, 20 minute phone consultation, and see if Myofunctional Therapy would be a good fit for you or your child!