Chris Zombek is an excellent myofunctional therapist and dental hygienist. She is professional and highly knowledgeable and experienced. Chris is continuously improving her knowledge and expertise in the field of myofunctional therapy and dentistry by regularly attending and completing new training and education courses.
I am a male patient and I am 33 years old.
Before I started working with Chris, I suffered with chronic TMD, incorrect swallowing pattern, poor tongue strength and control, and severe chronic pain and tension in my face, jaw, head and neck for most of my life.
I started working with Chris in May 2022 and I completed regular myofunctional therapy sessions with her for a total of 8 months.
Chris also helped me and guided me through my Tongue Tie and Lip Tie release.
After a total of 8 months of therapy, I can confidently say that I now have less pain and tension in my face, head, jaw and neck. I can swallow much better and easier and my resting tongue position and posture has improved significantly.
I can also breathe better and easier through my nose and I generally feel like my body’s overall adaptability and resilience has improved as a result of Chris’ myofunctional therapy.
I have consulted and worked with over 50 healthcare practitioners in my life and I have usually been disappointed or dissatisfied with the quality of healthcare that I have received, before I met Chris.
It is almost impossible to get a truly positive and satisfied review from me for healthcare services.
But, I can confidently and undoubtedly say that Chris gets a 5 star positive review from me.
She is absolutely brilliant in every way. She always exceeds my expectations and her commitment and dedication to her profession and her patients and clients is impressive and exemplary.
I fully recommend Chris as a myofunctional therapist and dental professional for patients and clients of all ages and anyone who wants to improve their oral or dental health.
Thank you Chris for all of the kind help and effort that you have given me during the past 8 months.
From Mr P.
I am a disabled Vietnam vet who suffers from an anxiety disorder due to PTSD. Shortly after my 70th birthday I began experiencing an inability to control my tongue movement. I visited a number of medical specialists and had an MRI done. However, I did not have a definitive diagnosis of this new disorder or any treatment plan to address the problem. My wife began doing research about my symptoms and discovered that what I was experiencing was described as a “tongue thrust”. We then began searching for specialists who could treat this disorder. We soon realized there were few trained and certified people in this field throughout the whole United States. However, when I came upon the IMT website we were both very impressed with what we saw and heard. Chris Zombek seemed very knowledgeable, and professional. My wife called her and set up my first appointment at her home office. The first time I met her, I found her to be very friendly and welcoming. I was very impressed with her evaluation techniques and she took the time to listen to my concerns with a sympathetic ear. After that first visit, I was sure that Chris would do everything in her power to help me. She even contacted and worked with my other medical providers in order to gain a wholistic understanding of who I was. Chris taught me step by step strategies and techniques that helped me to improve dramatically in a short period of time. When the pandemic came I was grateful that Chris continued to work with me through her telemedicine website. This allowed me to continue to maintain consistency with my therapy. The most valuable outcomes for me from this therapy is that I have gained back control in my life, improved my self-esteem and improved my relationships. I would highly recommend Chris Zombek to anybody who needs myofunctional therapy. Thank you, Chris for your patience, humor and thoughtfulness.
We have been working with Chris now for a year. Chris has done great things for our son. Everything from posture to exercises and detailed programmatic instructions are a part of the plan to assist with myofunction issues. The best part is Chris is willing to work with you on plans and really makes your child feel involved with the process. Cannot recommend her enough.
Nicholas D.
My 8-year-old son has been seeing Chris Zombek for about 6 months. We have seen so much improvement. Chris is committed to helping. The therapy has been individualized for my son’s specific needs and I am grateful for finding Chris and IMT.
Chris M.
Ms. Chris has been great to work with! She is well connected and knowledgeable about facial muscles and issues encompassing the facial area. She is positive and energetic during sessions, and always willing to go the extra mile to help. I had been to multiple dentists and ENTs before finding someone who was willing to listen to and help address my TMJ issues. I would highly, highly recommend it!
Cassie W.
Chris has been amazing to work with. The work she has done with my daughter so far has been life changing and she has been able to help us realize other areas of concern that needed to be addressed and were missed by others for years. So thankful we were referred to Chris and excited to see how she will continue to help our family.
TJ
IMT of Maryland has been a wonderful resource for our family. We have been taking my 7 year old for about 8 months now and we have seen so much improvement with her bite and tongue thrust habit. Chris Zombek has a wonderful personality, very professional and is GREAT with kids!
Amy S.
In my search for how to correct mouth breathing, I discovered myo-functional therapy and Chris in June 2016. My daughter has been seeing her for 4 months learning to keep her mouth closed, tongue in rest position, nasal breathing and swallowing properly with amazing results! Her confidence and appearance has improved – more symmetrical and decrease in size of the bottom lip. Her physical endurance improved and is showing in her dance and volleyball. Chris is a motivating teacher and passionate about helping her patients and the benefits of Myo-functional therapy. I am so thankful that we found her and HIGHLY recommend the therapy! I want to share my story so others can benefit and compare. When she was a little baby, she got croup. From then on, she struggled with ear infections, and strep throat repeatedly . At 6 years old, she was diagnosed with “Adenoid face” and had a Adenotonsillectomy at Johns Hopkins. I was told at this time, my daughter was a mouth breather, but given no advice or direction as to how to correct. On top of this, her teeth were developing crooked and overcrowded. We did the expander twice before braces were put on at 11. Her baby teeth were not falling out, so they pulled 7 teeth out at once before the braces. Over the years, I noticed my daughters bottom lip kept getting bigger. No one in the family had lips like this. At the beginning of 2016, she got sick but it turned into wheezing. She coughed for months, then on Mother’s day wound up in hospital with asthma. I took her to an allergist and they did a breathing test where she was below average and started her on inhalers to control asthma. I did not want her on drugs the rest of her life and began researching mouth breathing on the internet. I was amazed to find out that tongue tied, sickness, asthma, abnormal facial and teeth development were all symptoms of mouth breathing. It all made sense! The fact that her tongue tie caused her tongue to not touch the roof of her mouth led to her upper jaw not developing properly causing crooked teeth, and since she was not breathing thru her nose to filter germs, the adenoids and tonsils became large and infected from doing this job.
A M
I have been doing myo-functional therapy with Mrs. Chris Zombek since late April of 2014. I have been working with Mrs. Chris to eliminate my tongue thrust and to close my bite. My orthodontist recommended that I undertake myo-functional therapy to help with this. The therapy consists of many exercises to work specific muscles in the face and abolish bad habits. For me, this experience has been life changing. I not only saw improvements in my bite and tongue , but also in my facial structure as a whole. My face looks stronger and more symmetrical. Through this process I have worked hard and went through my exercises everyday. I am improving quickly and continue to do so weekly. The thing you really need to keep in mind is, that you get out of it what you put into it. Work hard and the benefits pay off. If it weren’t for Mrs. Chris, the weakness in my lips, tongue, and facial muscles would not have been detected, thus my orthodontics would not be successful.
A.M.
As a parent of a young patient receiving myo-functional services from this practice for post-frenectomy therapy, the importance of the services provided by Chris have amazed me. Most speech therapists and pediatricians are completely unaware of the necessity of myo-functional therapy, especially post-frenectomy, and explain articulation problems as either unspecified motor-planning delays or they site the ASLHA developmental norms for “normal” speech/sound acquisition patterns. Chris has completely shed light on the mysteries surrounding our daughter’s articulation problems — an inability to differentiate completely her jaw from her tongue. She confirmed the suspicions that I have had for a long time, which other professionals dismissed. The atmosphere is professional and the attention my daughter receives is top-notch. We’ve only had three sessions and already improvements are being seen!
A.W.
I am grateful to have found Chris to help my daughter when speech therapy was not as successful as I would have liked. Her office was over at hour away from us so commuting for weekly therapy would have been difficult. Fortunately, Chris offered therapy sessions via video. This turned out to be a great option because we could look back at videos when we needed a refresher on how to do the exercises. Chris was very thorough with my daughter and was always available to answer questions. This kind of diligence and support is hard to find! It is clear that Chris is very passionate about helping her clients achieve their myofunctional goals.
BABS
We are so happy with the progress that our daughter has achieved in the past 5 months. We were referred to Chris by our orthodontist to address tongue thrust issues as well as an open bite. During the initial assessment, it was identified that she had very low muscle tone in her face as well as her lips causing her jaw to be unstable. The various exercises and techniques taught to our daughter have developed her muscle tone in her face, as well as iterated to keep her tongue on the spot (up) creating a more stable jaw. The combination of all of the above has created major improvements in her bite as well as suction, swallowing, creating a bolus, and a clean swallow (with no trace of food on the tongue). Her facial structure has changed and her smile is beautiful. Chris spends the time with our daughter identifying and explaining what the exercises are helping and why the exercises are needed. Her treatment plans are detailed and she cares and wants her patients to be successful. We are thankful that we were referred to Chris and are very pleased with the successful results!
D and A
Miss Chris is so fun and enthusiastic about her work! She puts so much time and effort into her patients. She makes very detailed treatment plans and always answered any questions I had! The exercises were fun and rewarding. I not only saw an increase in my tongue strength but also an increase in my facial strength!
E.D.
The treatment that my daughter has received from Chris Zombeck at Innovative Myo Therapy has been outstanding. Chris has a great upbeat, positive attitude that helps keep kids interested throughout the course of treatment and her office is immaculately clean.
After my daughter learned proper tongue placement with the help of myofunctional exercises, her bite was more anatomically correct. Chris was able to show this progress with before and after photos.
Ms Chris is a very sweet and nice person. I love coming to her every week.
Ella
We are so glad to have been referred to Chris Zombek. She has been a delight from start to finish. Ever so professional, inspiring, organized and caring; she has helped my son correct his tongue position and help to eliminate the mouth breathing we hadn’t even realized was a problem until we went to the orthodontist for an evaluation for braces. How I wish we had found her sooner! At age 14, my son had suffered through years of insufficient sleep due to his mouth breathing that caused sporadic daytime hyperactivity. Years of being referred for evaluation for ADHD and immaturity, explained away in one visit. He is so much more focused after Ms. Zombek’s therapy! Just in time for High School, he is keeping his mouth closed more each week; improving his oxygen intake, looking more grown up, developing greater self confidence, eating and swallowing properly and even improving his upper teeth profile without the aid of orthodontics! Within one month of beginning therapy with Ms. Zombek there was a pronounced improvement in the placement of my son’s front upper teeth. No longer stuck out so noticeably; he began high school with an improved self esteem and an awareness of his facial position and body posture. Ms. Zombek has taken my son’s needs, abilities and personality into account each week to help him reach his goals. Always ready to explain the exercises in a different way so that both he and I could understand what he needed to do, she has been both an excellent therapist and a mentor along the path to having correct oral posture. My son will be ready for his braces soon and can count on her continued support.
Kim
My name is Kristina and I have been working with Ms. Chris since June of 2016 to get rid of my tongue thrust. She has been very helpful and is very personable and tailors her treatment to each individual patient to ensure that they are as successful as possible! I started out with frequent headaches due to my poor tongue posture and tendency to grind my teeth at night. Since starting this treatment I have experienced a drastic improvement in my tongue placement and headaches, and in addition my bite has closed! These results can be life changing, and without Ms. Chris I would probably still be exploring temporary remedies for my headaches.
Kristina
Trust me when I say that I had tried everything under the sun to break my son of his thumb sucking habit, which had gone on well beyond the usual age. How fortunate for us that our orthodontist referred us to Chris to address a totally separate tongue thrusting issue. From the first initial telephone conversation, Chris gave me hope that both issues could be resolved. She was awesome with not only motivating my son to reach his goal, but also helping him understand the importance of why it needed to be corrected. I am happy to report that he ended his habit within three weeks. Chris is passionate about her patients and her role in correcting myofunctional insufficencies. Without her therapy, we would have wasted thousands of dollars on orthodontics. We couldn’t be more pleased!
S.R.
I have been taking my 11-year-old daughter to Mrs. Chris for 4 months and have been completely amazed at the transformation I have seen. I took for granted having a tongue that does what it is supposed to do- and didn’t realize the impact of the opposite. I am so grateful to Mrs. Chris for shedding light on this issue because if we didn’t correct it before orthodontic treatment, we would be back to square one afterward. The exercises work just like any other form of exercise, strengthening and conditioning the targeted muscle(s). I would highly recommend this therapy to anyone who has been diagnosed with oral-facial disorder.
Terri and Rileigh