Patricia Brinkman-Falter

Patricia Brinkman-Falter has been a practicing dental hygienist “longer than she's been on the planet” and has found her passion in orofacial myology. She loves the energy and positive relationships she's formed with her own patients. She fought alone to have the Nebraska board of dentistry declare Myofunctional therapy part of the practice of dental hygiene. After 18 sleepless months of having her ROH license in jeopardy and thousands of dollars later, she won. Brinkman-Falter also won ADHA's 2015 Irene Newman award for her efforts. In April 2020 her article, Myofunctional Therapy: Enhancing your Dental Hygiene Career, was the first article on myofunctional therapy ever published in Access magazine by ADHA. The same year, she successfully led a talented group of hygienists to update ADHA's policies on myofunctional therapy, the first update since 1992. She was subsequently awarded the Rose Van Norman Award for Prevention by the International Association of Orofacial Myology. Brinkman-Falter speaks on a variety of topics across the country. As the soft tissue expert in the dental practice, she's always looking for ways to help educate the dental team. Her own specialty practice, Nebraska Myofunctional Specialties, includes tongue ties, airway, craniofacial development, TMJD and tongue thrust, all of which directly affect occlusion, periodontal disease and caries experience. She raised her children on a farm in south central Nebraska and currently resides with her husband in Lincoln, where they enjoy their eight beautiful grandchildren.

Conflict of Interest: None reported