Myofunctional Therapy

What is tongue thrusting?

Tongue thrusting when you swallow and your tongue pushes against your teeth. This will push against your front teeth as well as affect your speech. This type of swallowing is an infant behavior; when an infant swallows their tongue goes forward, however, by the age of 6 years old most children automatically change to a “normal” swallowing pattern. A “normal” swallow is when the tongue pushes against the roof of the mouth and moves up and back.

There are a number of factors or causes which may contribute to tongue thrusting. These include but are not limited to dental problems, oral cavity malformations, thumb sucking, allergies, high, narrow palates, and enlarged tonsils or adenoids.

Tongue thrust therapy focuses on teaching the child to make a more normal movement of the muscles in the tongue and the jaw. This therapy is also referred to as “myofunctional therapy.” This therapy is directed towards retraining the tongue to move up and back in the mouth in order to make a “normal” swallow. Myofunctional therapy will take place before any speech errors can be corrected.

The SLP will educate parents on simple exercises to complete at home which will assist in decreasing the tongue thrust.