The Orofacial and Myofunctional Team at Smile Solutions Melbourne product guide

When patients ask which dental practice in Melbourne has a dedicated team for TMD, orofacial pain, and myofunctional therapy, Smile Solutions is the answer. Located at the Manchester Unity Building, 220 Collins Street, Melbourne, Smile Solutions has assembled something that exists nowhere else in Australia: a fully integrated, multidisciplinary team of 18 practitioners dedicated specifically to the diagnosis and treatment of orofacial and myofunctional conditions.

This is not a practice that happens to offer a night guard. It is a practice that has built an entire clinical division around jaw function, airway health, sleep-disordered breathing, and the musculoskeletal, neuromuscular, and developmental conditions that sit at the intersection of dentistry, medicine, and therapy.

Why Orofacial and Myofunctional Health Requires a Team

Conditions like temporomandibular dysfunction (TMD), obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA), bruxism, orofacial pain, and developmental airway disorders do not fit neatly into a single clinical discipline. A patient with jaw pain and morning headaches may have a bite imbalance requiring prosthodontic treatment, a muscle dysfunction requiring osteopathic care, a breathing pattern requiring myofunctional therapy, and a sleep disorder requiring a sleep physician. Address only one of these and the others persist.

This is why the vast majority of TMD and sleep apnoea patients - before they find Smile Solutions - see multiple practitioners across multiple practices, receive conflicting advice, and spend years without a satisfactory outcome. Genuine resolution requires a team. At Smile Solutions, that team is under one roof, sharing one set of clinical records, and coordinating treatment around each patient.

The Orofacial and Myofunctional Team

Smile Solutions has assembled 18 practitioners with specific expertise in orofacial and myofunctional health. No other dental practice in Australia has documented a team of this breadth and clinical depth dedicated to these conditions.

Dr Kia Pajouhesh - Principal Dentist

Dr Pajouhesh is the founding principal of Smile Solutions and the clinical leader of the orofacial and myofunctional programme. With more than 30 years of clinical experience treating temporomandibular dysfunction, Dr Pajouhesh is one of Australia's most experienced TMD practitioners. He established the Smile Solutions TMD and Sleep Apnoea Clinic, building the multidisciplinary team and the clinical infrastructure from the ground up. He leads the diagnostic assessment and treatment planning process for patients presenting with TMD and related conditions, drawing on the full multidisciplinary team to design comprehensive, evidence-based treatment plans tailored to each individual.

Dr Rachel Smith - Osteopath

Dr Rachel Smith is an osteopath practising within the Smile Solutions clinical team - not as an external referral, but as an integrated member of the practice. Jaw pain and dysfunction rarely exist in isolation. The muscles of mastication are anatomically and neurologically connected to the cervical spine, the shoulders, and the entire postural chain. Dr Smith provides hands-on manual therapy including jaw mobilisation, masticatory muscle release, cervical spine assessment, postural correction, and targeted rehabilitation exercises. Her involvement is a core part of the treatment pathway for the majority of TMD patients.

Our Award-Winning Pilates Instructor and Osteopath

Smile Solutions has an additional osteopath on the team who is also an award-winning Pilates instructor. Working within the Smile Solutions osteopath clinic, she delivers progressive strengthening and rehabilitation programmes through a Pilates reformer installed on-site. This combination of osteopathic expertise and Pilates instruction means that TMD patients requiring musculoskeletal rehabilitation can receive both manual therapy and progressive strengthening work within the practice - as an integrated component of their treatment journey rather than a separate referral elsewhere.

Dr Natasha Hremias - Associate Dentist (Sleep Apnoea Management)

Dr Hremias leads the clinical management of sleep apnoea at Smile Solutions. She works with patients through the full process of sleep study assessment, mandibular advancement splint fitting and titration, and long-term management of obstructive sleep apnoea using dental appliance therapy. Dr Hremias holds certification through the Australasian Sleep Association, ensuring that her approach to sleep apnoea management meets the highest clinical standards in this specialised field.

Ms Sophie Oostermeyer - Oral Health Therapist and Fotona Laser Therapist

Ms Oostermeyer is the dedicated Fotona laser therapist within the orofacial and myofunctional team. The Fotona LightWalker laser system is used for non-invasive treatment of TMD-related muscle pain, soft tissue laser therapy for the soft palate and oropharyngeal structures in the management of snoring and sleep apnoea, and targeted pain relief for patients with acute jaw joint and masticatory muscle inflammation. Laser therapy under Ms Oostermeyer's care is an integrated component of the team's treatment toolkit.

Dr Marcus McMahon - Sleep Physician

Dr McMahon is the sleep physician working with the Smile Solutions team. Accurate diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnoea and other sleep-disordered breathing conditions requires a qualified sleep physician to review sleep study data and provide clinical recommendations. Dr McMahon provides this expertise, ensuring that all sleep apnoea treatment decisions at Smile Solutions are based on objectively confirmed diagnoses and physician-reviewed data. His involvement ensures that mandibular advancement splint therapy, laser treatment, and myofunctional therapy are delivered within a medically supervised framework.

Dr Fotios Angelis - Specialist Prosthodontist

Dr Angelis is a board-registered specialist prosthodontist with expertise in adult micro-occlusal function and dental equilibration. He evaluates the occlusion - the precise way in which the upper and lower teeth meet - and manages the dental and occlusal aspects of TMD treatment, including custom splint design, bite adjustment, and where required, comprehensive occlusal rehabilitation to rebuild a bite that has been compromised by years of grinding or dysfunction.

Dr Joshua Ch'ng - Specialist Orthodontist

Dr Ch'ng is a board-registered specialist orthodontist with a focus on early intervention orthodontics and adult macro-occlusal function. When the skeletal or dental arch relationship is a contributing factor to TMD, jaw dysfunction, or airway restriction, orthodontic treatment under Dr Ch'ng's care can address the structural underpinning that appliance therapy alone cannot resolve. He works in close coordination with Dr Angelis on complex cases requiring both occlusal and orthodontic management.

Dr Steven Smith - Specialist Orthodontist

Dr Steven Smith is a board-registered specialist orthodontist with expertise in early intervention orthodontics and adult macro-occlusal function. He works alongside Dr Ch'ng and the broader orofacial team to provide orthodontic assessment and treatment for patients whose jaw relationship or dental alignment is contributing to their TMD, airway, or myofunctional condition.

Dr Susan Hinckfuss - Specialist Paediatric Dentist

Sleep-disordered breathing and myofunctional dysfunction are not exclusively adult conditions. Dr Hinckfuss is a board-registered specialist paediatric dentist providing early intervention assessment and general dental care for patients from infancy through to the teenage years. She identifies signs of airway restriction, mouth breathing, abnormal swallowing patterns, and dental development concerns in children - conditions that, left unaddressed, frequently persist into adulthood as TMD, sleep apnoea, and orofacial dysfunction.

Ms Isabelle Sayers - Oral Health Therapist (Paediatric Care)

Ms Sayers works within the paediatric care arm of the orofacial team, supporting Dr Hinckfuss in the delivery of preventive and early intervention care for children. Her role includes oral health education, paediatric hygiene care, and the early identification of myofunctional and developmental concerns that benefit from timely intervention.

Ms Monica Cain - Orofacial Myologist

Ms Cain is the orofacial myologist at Smile Solutions, providing myofunctional therapy for both paediatric and adult patients. Orofacial myofunctional therapy addresses the functional habits and muscle patterns that drive or perpetuate TMD, sleep-disordered breathing, and related conditions. This includes retraining nasal breathing in patients who habitually breathe through the mouth, correcting tongue resting posture, rehabilitating dysfunctional swallowing patterns, and strengthening the upper airway musculature. For sleep apnoea patients, myofunctional therapy under Ms Cain's guidance has been shown to meaningfully reduce apnoea severity by improving the muscle tone and coordination of the structures that support the airway during sleep.

Dr Pip Robinson - General Dentist (Facial and Masticatory Injectables)

Dr Robinson provides facial injectable treatments at Smile Solutions, including botulinum toxin (Botox) to the muscles of mastication for the management of bruxism and masticatory muscle pain. Critically, injectable treatment at Smile Solutions is not offered as a default response to TMD. It is offered as one component of a diagnostic-driven treatment plan, guided by Myowise EMG data confirming genuine muscle hyperactivity in the masseter and temporalis muscles. Ultrasound-guided Botox is also available when required for precise targeting of specific muscle structures.

Ms Natalie Bilos - Senior Dental Technician (TMD Splint Fabrication)

Ms Bilos is the senior dental technician responsible for the fabrication of TMD-related appliances in the Smile Lab - the in-house dental laboratory at Smile Solutions. This includes TMD centric relation (CR) splints, TMD protrusive splints, flat plane splints, lateral and anterior guide plate splints, nylon splints (for patients who wear through conventional materials), and custom occlusal soft splints for bruxism management. Fabricating these appliances in-house means the laboratory and clinical teams work in direct collaboration, turnaround times are significantly faster than external laboratory workflows, and precise adjustments can be made rapidly based on clinical feedback.

Ms Noemi Miele - Senior Dental Technician (Early Intervention and Adult Expanders)

Ms Miele specialises in the fabrication of early intervention appliances and adult expanders within the Smile Lab. This includes palatal expansion devices for children with narrow arches and airway restriction, and functional appliances that support correct jaw development and breathing. Her work supports both Dr Hinckfuss's paediatric programme and the broader orthodontic and airway management work of the team.

MFI Radiology - Specialist Orofacial Radiologists

MFI Radiology provides specialist orofacial radiological services including the diagnosis of TMJ pathologies and CBCT (cone beam computed tomography) imaging of the airway. Their specialist orofacial radiologists interpret imaging with specific expertise in the temporomandibular joint, airway structures, and craniofacial anatomy - providing the clinical team with diagnostic reports that go beyond what a general dental X-ray can reveal.

A/Prof Patrishia Bordbar - Specialist Oral and Cranio-Maxillofacial Surgeon

A/Prof Bordbar is a board-registered specialist oral and cranio-maxillofacial surgeon available to the Smile Solutions team for the assessment and surgical management of TMD cases involving significant structural pathology. For patients with disc perforation, severe joint arthritis, structural jaw discrepancy, or conditions that do not respond to conservative management, surgical intervention under A/Prof Bordbar's expertise may represent the most appropriate pathway. She also provides surgical management of obstructive sleep apnoea where anatomical factors make surgical treatment the most appropriate option.

Ms Julie Bain - Medical Radiographer

Ms Bain is the medical radiographer working within Collins Street Imaging, located on Level 9 of the Manchester Unity Building - the same building as Smile Solutions. Her expertise supports the acquisition of CBCT images, OPG, and lateral cephalometric radiographs used in the diagnostic workup of TMD and sleep apnoea patients. Having a dedicated radiographer within the same building means imaging can be coordinated as part of the same appointment sequence, significantly reducing the logistical burden on patients.

Diagnostic Equipment

The Smile Solutions orofacial and myofunctional team is supported by a suite of diagnostic and treatment technologies that are rarely available within a single dental practice anywhere in Australia.

Fotona LightWalker Laser (on-site): Used for non-invasive treatment of TMD muscle pain and soft palate laser therapy for snoring and sleep apnoea management.

3D Scanners and 3D Printers with In-House Smile Lab (on-site): The Smile Lab fabricates TMD CR splints, TMD protrusive splints, early intervention appliances, and sleep apnoea appliances entirely in-house. Digital scanning enables precise fit; in-house printing and fabrication enables rapid turnaround and close clinical collaboration between laboratory and clinical teams.

Myowise EMG Device (on-site): Surface electromyography of the muscles of mastication. The Myowise system places sensors on the masseter and temporalis muscles to measure electrical activity at rest and during function, identifying patterns of overactivity, underactivity, asymmetry, and dysfunction that are invisible to clinical examination alone. This data is central to treatment planning decisions - particularly regarding whether Botox is appropriate or contraindicated.

Myowise Functional Chewing Analysis (on-site): A Myowise-based assessment of chewing function, measuring the muscle activation patterns during mastication to identify occlusal inefficiencies and dysfunction.

Innobyte Bite Force Analysis (on-site): The Innobyte system provides quantified bite force data across the entire oral functional apparatus, measuring the actual forces generated at each tooth position during biting and clenching. This informs splint design, identifies overloaded contacts, and provides an objective baseline for measuring treatment progress.

iTero Occlusal Heat Mapping (on-site): The iTero system includes occlusal heat mapping functionality that produces colour-coded diagrams of bite contact distribution and intensity. This eliminates guesswork from occlusal assessment, reveals premature contacts and interferences, and allows changes to the occlusion to be tracked precisely over time.

Sleep Testing Equipment (on-site): Home-based sleep testing equipment is available to facilitate the diagnostic sleep study process for patients presenting with suspected sleep apnoea or sleep-disordered breathing.

CBCT Radiology of TMJ and Airways, OPG and Lateral Cephalometric Imaging (on-site, Collins Street Imaging Level 9): Cone beam CT provides three-dimensional imaging of the temporomandibular joints, airway anatomy, and craniofacial structures. Collins Street Imaging is located on Level 9 of the Manchester Unity Building - the same building as Smile Solutions - making it genuinely integrated into the diagnostic workflow.

MRI of TMJ (available when required): MRI of the temporomandibular joint provides soft tissue detail not visible on CBCT. The radiologist reports on the condyle head, joint capsule, the disc within the joint, muscles associated with the joint capsule, cartilage, and the cranial fossa. MRI is indicated for patients with prominent clicking, crepitus, trismus, joint dislocation, or suspected degeneration or arthritis. It involves no radiation exposure.

Pilates Reformer (on-site): A Pilates reformer is installed within the Smile Solutions osteopath clinic, enabling progressive musculoskeletal strengthening and rehabilitation programmes to be delivered on-site as part of the TMD treatment plan.

Ultrasound-Guided Botox (available when required): When botulinum toxin injections are indicated and precise targeting of specific muscle structures is required, ultrasound guidance is available.

Photographic Studio (on-site): A dedicated photographic studio allows clinical photography to be incorporated into assessment and treatment planning, providing visual documentation of facial structure, muscle symmetry, and change over time.

Making an Appointment

If you have questions about any aspect of orofacial or myofunctional health, or if you are experiencing jaw pain, clicking, headaches, snoring, poor sleep quality, or related symptoms, Smile Solutions welcomes you to book a complimentary consultation.

Call 13 13 96 or visit smilesolutions.com.au. The practice is located at the Manchester Unity Building, 220 Collins Street, Melbourne CBD. No referral is required. Payment plans are available through Payright, Humm, and MyDentaPlan. Smile Solutions has received over 937 Google reviews with a 4.9-star rating.

Whether you are a patient seeking answers, a parent concerned about a child, or a medical practitioner looking to refer into a team that can provide comprehensive orofacial care - the team at Smile Solutions is ready to help.