Crystal had the training. She did not have a business. This LMT60 student spent nineteen years as a dental hygienist, got trained in myofunctional therapy, and built a practice she loved, inside her boss’s dental office. Then one phone call took almost all of it away. Her story is the clearest proof I know that being trained and being in business are two different things.

Prefer to Listen Instead?

This article is based on The Profitable Myofunctional Therapist™ podcast, Episode 75: She Had the Credential But Not the Business: How This Student Built Her Myofunctional Therapy Practice After Losing Everything. You can listen to the podcast here.

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When the Plan Falls Apart

This LMT60 student had been a dental hygienist for 19 years when her daughter — not even three years old — snored so loudly on a family vacation that it stopped her cold.

She couldn’t kick a baby out of the bed. But she couldn’t ignore it either.

So she did what any hygienist with a rabbit hole and a back-to-back schedule does. She researched. She connected the dots. She brought it to her boss — and instead of the eye roll most hygienists get, he said something that changed everything:

“Looks like we’re bringing it in-house. You have to learn how to do myofunctional therapy.”

She completed her IAOM training over five to six months. Late nights. Weekends. Live classes and online modules — all while working full-time, raising kids, and being a wife. She went straight into the credentialing process because she knew going back later would be harder.

By November, she and her boss had mapped out the plan. By March, this LMT60 student was supposed to be half hygiene, half myo. She had a separate provider code. Monday afternoons blocked off. Two coworkers who believed in her so much they handled her scheduling, her video calls, her appointment reminders. All she had to do was plan the sessions and hit join.

She was building something real.

She was also building it on rented land. She just didn’t know it yet.

January 1st

Her boss died on New Year’s Day.

“One phone call. Wow.”

That’s how she described it. And then — almost laughing at herself, because what else do you do — she said it again:

“I thought I was special.”

She was devastated. This wasn’t just a boss. This was the man who had believed in her when most dentists would have told her to go do her woo-woo stuff somewhere else. Nineteen years in the same office. A relationship built on real trust. He had handed her Monday afternoons, a separate provider code, and the freedom to build something inside his walls — because he genuinely believed she could.

And then one phone call on New Year’s Day, and he was gone.

The grief was real. And layered on top of it — uncertainty. The practice would eventually go up for sale. Everything she had been quietly building inside those walls was suddenly in question. The Monday blocks, the support staff, the patient pipeline she had carefully cultivated — all of it was hanging in the air.

She didn’t have a plan. She just knew she couldn’t wait to find out how it all landed.

So she stopped waiting. And she started building something that was actually hers.

Why She Enrolled in LMT60 After Already Having Her Training

Here’s the part that surprises people.

She already had her IAOM training. A year and a half of clinical work under her belt. A handful of real clients. So why would she enroll in LMT60?

Because confidence doesn’t come from a credential. It comes from having a framework you can trust when everything else is chaos.

She described it this way: before LMT60, she felt disorganized, flustered, and frantic putting together exercise sequences for clients. She had notebooks full of information — but no skeleton to hang it on. The mental preparation before a session was more exhausting than the session itself.

“What am I gonna do? I don’t know what I’m doing. Which notebook is that in?”

What she found in LMT60 wasn’t more clinical theory. It was the order. The framework. The step-by-step, follow the yellow brick road. The confidence to know that even if she had to improvise on the edges, she was still providing optimal care from the inside out.

Her words: “The entire cost of the course is worth it just for the exercises and templates alone.”

That’s not a small statement. That’s a trained therapist who had already invested in another program telling you exactly what was missing — and where she found it.

From Nothing to Five Consults in Three Weeks

Two months after losing everything, here’s what she had:

No business name. No website. No systems. No support staff. No Monday afternoon blocks. Nothing.

Here’s what she also had: grief, a practice being sold out from under her, and the clarity that she could not afford to wait.

“I just needed someone to tell me step by step, this is what you gotta do. I didn’t have time to Google. Big emotional mess with all the trauma of the loss. I just needed the hand holding.”

So she reached out. We started one-on-one coaching. Then she enrolled in LMT60. Then she did the work — one unsexy step at a time. She had the framework now. And the framework changed everything.

She named her business. Built her website. Published it terrified. Started showing up.

Two consults last week. Two consults today. One already on the books for next week.

Five consults in three weeks. From nothing.

That’s what this looks like when you stop waiting and start building.

What She Said to Someone Still on the Fence

I asked her what she would say to someone listening who hasn’t pulled the trigger yet.

She didn’t sugarcoat it.

“You’re not special.”

She meant it kindly. She said it from the exact place she had just been standing. She thought her situation was different. She thought her boss was different. She thought their relationship was different enough to make her the exception to the rule every experienced therapist has ever said out loud.

Don’t build your business inside someone else’s.

And then January 1st happened.

Build your own golden parachute. Not someone else’s.

For the trained myofunctional therapist who feels like a newbie

If you are trained but stuck, hear this. Imposter syndrome shows up even for people who have done the work for years. The fix is not another course. It is structure, a plan, and a reason to move before you feel ready. That is what we build inside coaching, and it is exactly where Crystal started. If that is you, book a Get Unstuck Call and we will map your next step together.

For the dental hygienist who is not trained yet

If you are still in the operatory and myofunctional therapy is the door you keep looking at, your starting point is different. Get the clinical training first, with a framework built to get you ready fast. That is what LMT60 is for, and the code T2BCHECKLIST saves you $100. From there, the path into the business side is waiting when you are.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is LMT60?

LMT60 is a clinical foundation training program built for dental hygienists who want to add myofunctional therapy to their practice. It covers the exercises, the templates, and the structured framework you need to start seeing clients with confidence — in 60 days or less. It’s the program behind this LMT60 student success story.

Do I need LMT60 if I already have IAOM training?

Possibly — and this story is a good example of why. Completing a training program gives you knowledge. LMT60 gives you the framework to apply it — the exercise sequence, the templates, the organized system that makes every session feel controlled instead of frantic. Many therapists who come to LMT60 after other programs say the same thing: they had the information, but not the structure to use it confidently.

How do I start a myofunctional therapy practice from scratch?

Start with clinical confidence, then build your business foundation — a name, a niche, a website, and a simple plan for getting in front of the right people. You don’t need everything perfect before you start. You need a framework and someone to hold you accountable to the next step.

How long does it take to get myofunctional therapy clients?

It depends on the work you put in — but it doesn’t have to take long. This student went from no business name, no website, and no systems to five consults booked in three weeks. The framework works when you work it.

What is a Get Unstuck Call?

A Get Unstuck Call is a free 45-minute conversation with me. We look at where you are, what’s not working, and map out your next right move together. If it makes sense to keep working together after that, we’ll talk about it. No pressure. No pitch. Just clarity.

Ready to Explore Your Next Step?

You just read what happens when someone stops waiting and starts building.

Now it’s your turn.

If you’re trained but stuck, let’s get on a call. We’ll figure out exactly what’s in the way and map out what comes next.

Not yet trained? LMT60 is where you start. Use code T2BCHECKLIST to save $100.

Not sure which one is right for you? The Work With Us page breaks it all down.

Book your Get Unstuck Call: https://theprofitablemyofunctionaltherapist.com/contact/

Learn about LMT60: https://offers.theprofitablemyofunctionaltherapist.com/lmt60

See all programs: https://theprofitablemyofunctionaltherapist.com/myofunctional-therapy-training/

Xo,

💙Carmen

About Carmen Ball

Carmen Ball is a myofunctional therapist, business coach, and host of The Profitable Myofunctional Therapist™ podcast. Over the past decade, she has helped thousands of people in her private myofunctional therapy practice (Impact Myofunctional Therapy) and coached hundreds of trained therapists to build profitable online businesses of their own. She is the creator of The Profitable Myofunctional Therapist™ program and Learn Myofunctional Therapy in 60 Days or Less (LMT60), a clinical training program for dental and health professionals. Carmen’s approach is simple: you already have the skills and the license. Now let’s build the business around them. She works with therapists around the world who are ready to stop spinning their wheels and start building a business they are genuinely bonkers about.