ABSTRACT Purpose To characterize the profile of Brazilian speech therapists with specialized training in orofacial myology (OM). Methods Descriptive and exploratory, cross-sectional study, with a quantitative approach, carried out between September 2022 and February 2023, in partnership with CFFa. Eighty-seven speech therapists with specialized training in OM participated. Results showed female predominance, age between 41 and 50 years, and time of specialized training in OM between 16-20 years; most with specialist titles in the Southeast of Brazil. Most work in offices/outpatient clinics and/or clinics with interdisciplinary actions with Medicine and Dentistry; seeing adults and children, mainly in a private sector. As to OM domains there was a predominance of rehabilitation of soft structures and oral habits, and most use technologies: light - reception and assistance, light-hard - evaluation and therapy, and hard - photobiomodulation (40.2%). Conclusion The Brazilian speech therapists with specialized training in OM participating in the study are mostly women over 41 years old, who hold the title of specialists, and carry out practices in various domains and levels of technology in the area, with a predominance of diagnosis and rehabilitation of oromyofunctional disorders.

RESUMO Objetivo Caracterizar o perfil do fonoaudiólogo brasileiro com formação especializada em motricidade orofacial (MO). Métodos Estudo descritivo e exploratório, transversal, de abordagem quantitativa, realizado entre setembro 2022 e fevereiro 2023, com parceria do Conselho Federal de Fonoaudiologia. Participaram 87 fonoaudiólogos com formação em MO. Resultados Evidenciou-se predominância feminina, faixa etária entre 41 e 50 anos e tempo de formação especializada em MO entre 16 e 20 anos; maioria com título de especialista e da Região Sudeste do Brasil, atuando em consultórios/ambulatórios e/ou clínicas, com ações interdisciplinares com Medicina e Odontologia, abrangendo adultos e crianças, principalmente na rede privada. Prevaleceram os domínios da MO quanto à reabilitação de estruturas moles e hábito oral e maior uso de tecnologias: leve - acolhimento e assistência; leve-dura - avaliação e terapia e dura - fotobiomodulação. Conclusão Os fonoaudiólogos brasileiros com formação especializada em MO, participantes do estudo, são, em sua maioria, mulheres com mais de 41 anos de idade, que detêm titulação de especialista, com práticas nos vários domínios e níveis de tecnologia da área, principalmente em diagnóstico e reabilitação dos distúrbios miofuncionais orofaciais.

Abstract Introduction Clinical assessment in orofacial motricity is required for the speech therapist to diagnose and treat disorders involving the stomatognathic system. Validated tools can help establish a prognosis and outline intervention methods connected to human development. Objective The goal of the present study was to examine the domains of the oromyofunctional assessment of nursing infants and preschoolers according to sex and age group, as well as the application of the MMBGR Protocol – Nursing Infants and Preschool Children. Methods A quantitative technique was used to conduct an analytical and cross-sectional investigation. The present study included a total of 214 healthy breastfeeding infants and preschoolers of both sexes. The Mann-Whitney test was used to compare the medians. The Spearman correlation of each test domain was determined. R Core Team 2021 (R Foundation, Vienna, Austria) was used, and the significance threshold was set at 5%. Results In intraoral and extraoral examinations, there was a difference between sexes for tongue scores in nursing infants(d =-0.428; p = 0.045), worse in males. When the orofacial functions were considered in nursing infants, there were differences between the sexes for the liquid/solid/semisolid deglutition scores (d = 0.479; p = 0.031), with females performing worse. There were sex differences in solid/semisolid deglutition (d = -0.335; p = 0.043), and speech in preschoolers (d = - 0.478; p = 0.034), including the production of phones/phonemes (d = - 0.599; p = 0.007), which were always worse in males. Conclusion The research revealed sex disparities and related the domains of oromyofunctional assessment, according to scores, of the domains of myofunctional assessment, as recorded in a standardized oromyofunctional assessment protocol by age group.