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A tongue thrust is when the tongue pushes against or between the teeth while your child is at rest, swallowing, or talking. The child does not use the muscles of the mouth, lips, jaw, or face correctly. Speech therapists call this an orofacial myofunctional [or-oh-FAY-she-awl my-oh-FUNK-shun-nal] disorder or OMD. The most common OMD is tongue thrust, which can cause dental and speech problems.
Most infants push their tongues forward to swallow. Most children change to a normal swallow by age six. If this change does not happen, the tongue continues to push against the teeth as the child swallows.
This tongue thrust can carry over into speech and resting. Because it is almost constant, having the tongue push against the teeth while the mouth is at rest may have the worst impact on the development of your child’s mouth. The habit of tongue thrusting is hard to change without help from a professional.
With a tongue thrust disorder, the child’s tongue sticks out between their teeth during one or more of these times:
A child with a tongue thrust disorder, may have one or more of these:
A tongue thrust can also affect speech. You child may have trouble making sounds correctly, especially sh, ch, zh, and j. Your child might say “thumb” instead of “some.” If mouth breathing has weakened your child’s lip and tongue muscles, they might have trouble with t, d, n, and l too.
A tongue thrust when swallowing is normal for a baby. Most children will outgrow a tongue thrust by age 6. If you see that your child’s tongue sticks out between their teeth when speaking, swallowing, or resting and they are past infancy, you should talk to your child’s healthcare provider. They can help you decide if treatment is needed or might be needed later on.
If your child is older than age 4 and having trouble swallowing (dysphagia [dis-FAY-juh]) or speaking, you may need to see a specialist for treatment. The front teeth of older children with tongue thrust may grow at an angle. This can lead to feeling self-conscious about their looks. They will probably develop speech problems, adding to their self-consciousness.
Speech therapists think a tongue thrust may happen because of the following:
Allergies may also cause tongue thrust. If allergies make it hard for your child to breathe through their nose, they may breathe through their mouth and their lip muscles then weaken over time.
Enlarged tonsils and adenoids can cause the same problem. They block the airway, making your child breathe through their open mouth.
Tongue thrust or orofacial myofunctional disorder (OMD) is diagnosed and cared for by a team of people, including:
One of these team members will assess your child to see if their tongue sticks out between their teeth when
Then, they can assess how the tongue thrust is harming your child’s growth, speech, and social life.
A speech therapist or a speech-language pathologist who specializes in treating children should help treat tongue thrust. Your child will be assessed by this specialist, who will work with you to set up a treatment plan. Your child may begin tongue thrust treatment at about 8 years of age.
Please note: Your child must stop thumb or finger sucking before beginning treatment.
Usually, the tongue thrust therapy is about ten 30-minute sessions. Sessions are scheduled every week or every other week. After that, there are two 30-minute follow-up sessions in the next 3 to 4 months.
While in treatment, your child will learn the proper mouth resting position and how to swallow saliva, liquids, and solid foods correctly. Your child will receive activities and exercises each week to complete at home. The key to learning correct habits is doing the activities and exercises consistently. The treatment’s success depends on you and your child’s motivation to follow exercises at home.
Your child may also be treated by these caregivers:
Your child might need to see both a dentist and an orthodontist if the tongue thrust hampers normal growth. When the tongue pushes against the teeth, it could keep teeth from growing in correctly or make the teeth and jaws not line up.
Your child’s healthcare providers can see if a blocked airway
It might be possible to prevent tongue thrust in children by dealing with these problems before they cause the tongue thrust disorder: