Myofunctional Foundations

Meet Victoria Armaly, the Dental Hygienist Behind Myofunctional Foundations in North Bay

When you book with Myofunctional Foundations, you are working with Victoria Armaly, a registered restorative dental hygienist and orofacial myologist who was born and raised in North Bay and has spent nine and a half years in the profession. She trained at Canadore College, went to George Brown College in Toronto twice, first for restorative dental hygiene and then for her degree in dental hygiene, and worked for the last seven years at a dental office in Parry Sound. Her husband is here, her whole family is here, and she stayed.

Victoria also teaches part time in the dental hygiene program at Canadore, in the clinic and in the classroom, covering microbiology and, this year, pharmacology. The first Google review on her listing came from a parent whose three year old she assessed: "She is clearly knowledgeable and took the time to explain to me about myofunctional therapy and what she was checking."

Myofunctional Therapy in North Bay Since May 2026

Myofunctional Foundations opened in May 2026. Before that, the closest myofunctional therapist was in Sudbury, a drive or a video call away for any family in North Bay or Parry Sound. In her words, she did not get into this to make a lot of money. She got into it to help people in this community who either did not know the therapy existed or had run out of places to look.

The path there was not planned. In January 2023 a skiing accident left her with a moderate brain injury, and when she returned to clinical hygiene the headaches and dizziness made chair work hard to enjoy. From 2024 until early 2026 she worked from home for another restorative hygienist, a convention speaker and myofunctional therapist herself, doing the research behind her presentations. That reading opened her eyes to how much of the body connects to the mouth, and an idea that had sat in the back of her head became a practice. She completed her orofacial myofunctional therapy training through Airway Health Solutions: School of Myo.

What Myofunctional Therapy Is, in Plain English

Think of it as a workout for the muscles in your mouth. Your tongue, lips, cheeks and jaw are muscles, and like any muscle they can learn bad habits: a tongue that rests low, lips that sit apart, a swallow that pushes against the teeth. Victoria retrains those muscles with exercises you do two or three times a day. Nothing is invasive, and the only hands on part is her assessment.

Those habits show up as mouth breathing, snoring, tongue thrust, tongue tie, jaw pain and clenching, drooling in young children, and swallowing patterns that can undo orthodontic work. Mouth breathing is the one she sees most, drooling in little ones, and jaw pain, grinding, or snoring in adults. Orthodontists refer patients with tongue thrust, because a tongue pushing on the teeth with every swallow can flare them out or open the bite, and braces have a hard time winning against it.

What Victoria Wishes You Knew Before You Book

Victoria wishes more people understood how connected the mouth is to the rest of the body. She calls it the portal. The bacteria in your mouth turn up elsewhere in your body, and poor oral health can raise your risk for a long list of diseases. The same goes for muscles: improper tongue posture pulls on the rest of you, the way slouching does.

Her other point is one almost nobody has heard: form follows function. The roof of your mouth is the floor of your nasal cavity. If a child's palate grows narrow and high because the tongue is not resting where it should, the nasal passage grows narrow too, and breathing through the nose gets harder. Starting young, between about three and seven, can mean less orthodontic work later or a shorter time in braces, and may reduce the sleep problems that often follow a child into adulthood.

Very little of this is taught in dental, hygiene, or medical school, so Victoria offers free lunch and learns to any dental office, physiotherapist, chiropractor, massage clinic, or other health care professionals in town that want to know what to look for.

How the Program Works, From Consult to Last Session

You start with a free consultation by video or phone, about twenty minutes, covering what the therapy involves, what it asks of you, and how billing works. Next comes a full assessment. Victoria takes a history from birth to the present, then looks at tongue range of motion, swallowing, chewing, drinking, posture, and facial symmetry. You leave with a written evaluation report she can send to any other provider you see, plus recommendations for who else might help, whether that is an osteopath, chiropractor, massage therapist, physiotherapist, orthodontist, or speech therapist.

Treatment sessions are usually every two weeks. Younger children come monthly, since it takes a little longer to get them on board. Each visit sends you home with about five exercises, done twice a day for about five to ten minutes in total. Most dysfunctions take fourteen to twenty sessions, depending on how the homework goes and how the muscles respond.

A Program for Every Age, From Mini Myo to Adults

Many therapists sell single issue programs, one for snoring, one for mouth breathing. Victoria does not, because one dysfunction almost always travels with others, so her programs address everything she finds. For three and four year olds there is a mini myo program, six play based sessions to get them used to the exercises first while still working the muscles.

Sessions take place in her own quiet office in North Bay. She serves families and adults from North Bay, Parry Sound, Sturgeon Falls, Mattawa, and the surrounding area.

Paying for Myofunctional Therapy in North Bay

Because Victoria is a practising dental hygienist, her fees follow the dental hygiene fee guide. Some private insurance plans cover the therapy and some do not, so check your plan. Unfortunately, the Canadian Dental Care Plan does not cover it.

What to Expect From Victoria

Expect to feel welcome. Victoria describes her approach as empathetic and holistic, and after nine years of hygiene she knows people arrive with a lot going on. If money is tight she will work with your family on the pace of treatment so nobody is left behind. As a regulated health professional she is not allowed to ask for reviews, so the ones on her listing arrived on their own.

Outside the clinic Victoria works three jobs, has a husband who travels for work, and a trailer in Mattawa where they spend as much time as they can. Her goal for 2027 is a full calendar of myofunctional therapy, not for the business, but because it would mean more people in North Bay know this help exists close to home.