Dr Donny

BDSc (Melbourne) FICOI FPFA FIADFE PGDip Orthodontics Dentofacial Orthopedics (UK)
AHPRA Registration DEN0001014091 My passion is functional health.

At my practice locations, I look after patients of all ages, from infants to adults. Because of my wholistic approach, I collaborate with health providers from various disciplines, in order to unlock and optimize each individual's unique potential. I am also an eager educator, having presented internationally at conferences and seminars, including Australia, USA, Canada, Japan, and Indonesia, at the time of writing. Additionally, I have also presented online, reaching audiences from all corners of the globe.

09/09/2026

🚨 YOUR TONGUE IS GROWING YOUR FACE.

Yes… the tongue. 👅

Most people think the tongue is simply for eating, swallowing and talking.

But during childhood, the tongue is also part of the functional environment influencing how the jaws and face develop.

When the tongue rests appropriately against the palate, alongside nasal breathing, lip seal, chewing and swallowing, it can help support:

🦷 Development of the dental arches
👃 Nasal breathing
👅 Palatal and maxillary development
😁 Space for developing teeth
😴 Healthy airway function
🧠 Balanced orofacial function

But when the tongue habitually rests low, the mouth remains open, or nasal breathing is compromised, the forces shaping the growing face change.

And over YEARS, those small functional differences may matter.

This is why I keep saying:

FORM FOLLOWS FUNCTION.
AND FUNCTION FOLLOWS FORM.

We shouldn’t just ask:

❌ “Are the teeth straight?”

We should also ask:

🔥 Where is the tongue?
🔥 How is the child breathing?
🔥 Can the lips close comfortably?
🔥 How are they swallowing and chewing?
🔥 WHY did the jaws develop this way?

Orthodontics shouldn’t only be about moving teeth.

Understand the function.
Guide the growth.
Then create stability.

👅 The tongue may be small…
but its job is enormous.

Save this for every parent who thinks crooked teeth are just about teeth.

05/09/2026

ONE OR NONE 🔄

For too long, dentistry has focused on one question:
“How do we make the teeth fit?”

But perhaps the better question is:
“WHY didn’t the teeth fit in the first place?”

Teeth don’t exist in isolation.

They develop within jaws influenced by breathing, tongue posture, swallowing, chewing, muscle activity, airway, neuromuscular patterns and the environment.

And it works BOTH ways.

Function can influence the environment in which form develops.
But form can also determine what function is possible.

A narrow palate may change where the tongue can rest.
Dental crowding may reflect limited space within the developing arches.
Jaw relationships can influence how we chew, swallow and breathe.

So simply moving teeth may only address what we see.

That is why I developed the REASONSS Framework.

Regulation & Reflexes
Elasticity & Environment
Airway & Breathing
Sleep & Nutrition
Orofacial
Neuromuscular
Structure
Stability

Because the goal isn’t just straight teeth.

It is to understand the REASONSS behind the form, improve the functions influencing development, support the structure, and ultimately create stability.

FORM ↔ FUNCTION

They are not competing philosophies.

They are ONE — or they are NONE.

And that is why…

THE MOUTH NEVER WORKS ALONE…

29/08/2026

FULL CIRCLE. 🇮🇩❤️

Some speaking engagements mean more than simply standing on a stage.

This was one of them.

I was incredibly honoured to be invited to speak at ASTOT 2026 in Bali — and even more humbled to be the first speaker to kick off the entire convention.

But what made this moment truly special was that this was my first-ever speaking engagement for ASTOT… and it happened in Indonesia — the land where I was born. 🇮🇩

There was something deeply emotional about standing on that stage, talking about a field I care so passionately about, in the country where my own story began.

But the greatest gift from this event wasn’t the stage.

It was the people. ❤️

The conversations, the constructive feedback, the different perspectives, the new connections and friendships — absolutely priceless.

Because I believe the future of tethered oral tissue management isn’t about one profession having all the answers.

It’s about all of us working together.

More collaboration.
More critical thinking.
More research.
Stronger evidence.
And ultimately, better care for our patients.

A heartfelt thank you to the ASTOT board members for inviting me, and to every delegate who shared their thoughts, questions and constructive feedback. I have so much to take away and learn from this experience.

I’m genuinely excited to see where the evolution of multidisciplinary healthcare and tethered oral tissue management takes us next.

And somehow, it feels incredibly fitting…

Indonesia was where my story began. 🇮🇩

And now, all these years later, it has become the place where another very special step begins.

Thank you, ASTOT 2026. ❤️🙏

25/08/2026

BEDWETTING

💦🛏️

Bedwetting is often treated as something children will simply “grow out of.”

But what if we stopped looking only at the bladder… and started looking at the whole child?

Because nighttime bladder control depends on much more than bladder capacity.

It involves a complex relationship between:

🧠 Brain and nervous system maturation
😴 Sleep and arousal
👃 Airway and breathing
💧 Hormonal regulation
🚽 Bowel health and constipation
🥤 Fluid and dietary habits
🦷 Orofacial function
🧩 And potentially, neuromotor development and primitive reflex patterns

Retained primitive reflexes may coexist with difficulties involving body awareness, regulation, posture, breathing and sleep. While the relationship with bedwetting is still an evolving area of research—and primitive reflexes should not be presented as a proven cause of enuresis—they can be another piece of the clinical puzzle worth considering in the right child.

And here’s an especially important connection:

BEDWETTING + SNORING + MOUTH BREATHING = LOOK DEEPER.

Sleep-disordered breathing has been associated with nocturnal enuresis in children. If a child is snoring, sleeping restlessly, mouth breathing, struggling to wake, tired during the day or regularly wetting the bed, simply telling them to “try harder” misses the point.

❤️ Bedwetting is not laziness.
❤️ It is not bad behaviour.
❤️ And children should never be embarrassed or punished for it.

Instead of asking:

“Why won’t they stop wetting the bed?”

Perhaps the better question is:

👉 “WHY is their body struggling to achieve nighttime bladder control?”

Look at the airway.
Look at breathing.
Look at sleep.
Look at bowel health.
Look at development.
Look at neurological regulation.

The symptom may be in the bed.
The reason may be somewhere completely different.

23/08/2026

ALLERGIC SHINERS

They’re often dismissed as “just tired eyes.”

But persistent dark or purplish circles under the eyes can sometimes be allergic shiners — a sign commonly associated with nasal allergies and chronic congestion.

When the nose stays congested, blood flow around the delicate tissues beneath the eyes can become more prominent, creating that characteristic darker appearance.

And here’s why I pay attention to them 👇

Allergic shiners may appear alongside:

👃 Persistent blocked or runny nose
🤧 Frequent sneezing or nasal allergies
👄 Mouth breathing
😴 Restless or poor-quality sleep
👀 Puffy, itchy or watery eyes
🫩 Daytime tiredness
🧠 Difficulties with concentration or behaviour

The dark circles themselves aren’t necessarily the problem.

They may be a CLUE to the problem.

In children, chronic nasal obstruction can encourage mouth breathing — and when mouth breathing becomes habitual during important years of growth, it may influence oral function, sleep and craniofacial development.

So rather than asking:

❌ “How do we get rid of the dark circles?”

Consider asking:

✅ “WHY are they there?”

Is the nose consistently blocked?
Are allergies being adequately managed?
Is your child breathing through their mouth?
Are they sleeping well?
Can they comfortably breathe through their nose day AND night?

Sometimes the eyes give us a window into what’s happening further down the airway.

Don’t just look at the shiners. Look for the REASONSS behind them.

👃 Better nasal health.
🌬️ Better breathing.
😴 Better sleep.
🌱 Better conditions for healthy growth.

This post is for general education and does not mean that every child with dark circles has allergies or an airway problem. Persistent symptoms should be assessed by an appropriate healthcare professional.

21/08/2026

ANTERIOR OPEN BITE

When a child’s front teeth don’t meet, it’s easy to look at the gap and think:

“We just need to straighten the teeth.”

But the bigger question is…

WHY did the open bite develop in the first place? 👀

An anterior open bite may be associated with:

👎 Prolonged thumb or finger sucking
🍼 Prolonged pacifier use
👄 Mouth breathing
👅 Low tongue resting posture
🥤 Tongue-thrust or dysfunctional swallowing patterns
🧬 Growth and genetic influences

And this is why simply moving the teeth may not address the whole picture.

The muscles and habits acting on the teeth happen thousands of times every day.

If those patterns remain dysfunctional, what happens after the teeth are corrected?

That’s why, depending on the individual child, management may also involve:

✅ Eliminating prolonged oral habits
✅ Orofacial myofunctional therapy to retrain tongue posture, lip seal and swallowing patterns
✅ Addressing nasal breathing and airway factors where appropriate
✅ Functional chewing and oral muscle training, including tools such as the MyoMunchee when clinically appropriate
✅ Early assessment of jaw growth and dental development

The goal isn’t simply to close the gap.

The goal is to understand WHY THE GAP IS THERE.

Because when we address the cause AND the consequence, we have a much better opportunity to support stable function and developing dentofacial growth.

Don’t just look at the bite.
Look at the FUNCTION behind the bite. 👅🧠🦷

FUNCTIONS FIRST. GROWTH FOLLOWS.

Save this for later 🔖 and share it with a parent who has noticed their child’s front teeth don’t meet.

20/08/2026

PALATE

When I see a high, narrow palate—especially with crowded teeth—I don’t just see an orthodontic problem.

I ask:

🔥 WHY did it develop this way?

👃 Was nasal breathing compromised?
👅 Was the tongue resting low instead of against the palate?
🍼 Were prolonged sucking habits involved?
💀 Could craniofacial development have influenced the pattern?
😴 Is sleep and breathing being affected?
🦷 And is the crowding simply the visible consequence of a bigger functional story?

The palate doesn’t develop in isolation.

Function and growth influence each other.

So instead of only asking:
❌ “How do we straighten these teeth?”

We should also be asking:
🔥 “WHY wasn’t there enough room for them in the first place?”

SO WHAT CAN WE DO?

The answer isn’t simply “expand every palate.” Treatment should be individualised and based on the underlying contributors.

Depending on the child, this may include:

👃 Assess the nasal airway — investigate persistent mouth breathing, congestion or obstruction.

👅 Improve tongue posture and function — the tongue needs adequate mobility, space and neuromuscular function.

🌬️ Establish nasal breathing — where medically appropriate and once airway obstruction has been addressed.

💪 Myofunctional therapy — retrain dysfunctional patterns involving the tongue, lips, cheeks, breathing and swallowing.

🍼 Address prolonged oral habits — thumb/finger sucking and prolonged pacifier use can influence developing oral structures.

😴 Investigate sleep symptoms — snoring, restless sleep, open-mouth sleeping and daytime fatigue deserve attention.

🦷 Assess growth early — when appropriate, interceptive dental or orthodontic treatment may help guide developing jaws and create better conditions for function.

🤝 Think collaboratively — some children may benefit from coordinated care involving dentistry, ENT, myofunctional therapy and other appropriately qualified health professionals.

The goal isn’t simply to make the palate wider.

The goal is to understand WHY it became narrow and create the best possible environment for healthy function and growth.

Because straight teeth are only part of the story.

19/08/2026

ONE DAY ONLY

This course is already evolving into a very special event.

Now sponsored by Myo Munchee and Innovative Medical Technologies this one day only seminar is almost SOLD OUT.

The creator of Advanced Lightwire Functional (ALF) Therapy, Dr. Darick Nordstrom, is coming to Melbourne, Australia.

This is an unmissable opportunity for functional dentists, cranial bodyworkers, speech pathologists, myofunctional therapists, and all functional health providers in Australia, to learn directly from the genius behind this incredible philosophy.

Dr. Nordstrom will be supported by:
🦷 Dr. Mona Moy - ALF Holistic Dentist from Oakland, USA
💀 Dr. Najib Saifi - ALF Cranial Osteopath from Menton, France
👅 Dr. Donny Mandrawa (yours truly) - Myofunctional Dentist from Melbourne, Australia

The seminar will focus mainly on how to collaborate together between the health disciplines when looking after patients undergoing ALF Therapy.

When? 21st September 2026.
Where? Woodward Conference Centre in the Melbourne Law Building.

Don’t miss out and BOOK NOW: use the QR code, or on www.trybooking.com/DNPVB

Address

Suite 01-14, Level 1, Menara See Hoy Chan, 374, Jln Tun Razak, Taman U Thant
Kuala Lumpur
50400

Website

https://themyofunctionalcentre.com.au/, https://amzn.asia/d/06WEqwsF, https://www.mdpi.com/2694-2526/50/1/2

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