REVIEW ARTICLE
Orofacial Myofunctional Therapy in Tongue Thrust Habit:
A Narrative Review
Sejal S Shah1, Meenakshi Y Nankar2, Vikas D Bendgude3, Bhagyashree R Shetty4
A b s t r ac t
Aim and objective: The respective review article is to provide an overview of the various exercises in orofacial myofunctional therapy (OMT)
as a treatment modality for tongue thrust habit. Tongue thrust is the persistence of an infantile swallow pattern during late childhood. This
leads to breathing and speech difficulties, open bite, and protruded teeth. During formative years, most children successfully transition from
an infantile to a mature swallowing pattern. However, a few develop a retained infantile swallow and tongue thrust habit which could be due
to abnormal habit like thumb sucking or an underlying cause like enlarged adenoids. Adverse effects of these habits can be avoided by early
detection and intervention in a growing child. Tongue thrust can be treated in different ways with early diagnosis, removal of underlying causes,
correcting tongue posture, and breaking of habit with the use of orthodontic appliances. This review article is focused on the various OMT
techniques employed for the correction of tongue thrust. There are several exercises in OMT which can help a child with tongue thrust. These
can be performed at home under the supervision of the child’s parents. Orofacial myofunctional therapy has provided a dramatic and positive
influence on patients treated for tongue thrust. The joy of eating, speaking, and correct breathing can be regained along with confidence,
self-esteem, and improved quality of life. Clinically, OMT plays a positive role by not only improving swallow but also the posture of tongue,
improper muscle function, and reduces relapse of previous orthodontic treatments.
Keywords: Myofunctional therapy, Tongue dysfunction, Tongue habits, Tongue rest posture.
International Journal of Clinical Pediatric Dentistry (2021): 10.5005/jp-journals-10005-1926
B ac kg r o u n d 1,2,4
Department of Pediatric and Preventive Dentistry, Dr DY Patil
What is Tongue Thrust? Dental College and Hospital, Pune, Maharashtra, India
3
Tongue thrust is a term that describes a swallowing pattern in which Department of Pedodontics and Preventive Dentistry, Dr DY Patil
an individual pushes the tongue against or between the teeth. This Dental College and Hospital, Pune, Maharashtra, India
habit has also been called deviate swallow, deviant deglutition, Corresponding Author: Meenakshi Y Nankar, Department of Pediatric
reversed swallow, perverted swallow, oral myofunctional disorder, and Preventive Dentistry, Dr DY Patil Dental College and Hospital,
visceral swallow, infantile swallowing pattern, and abnormal Pune, Maharashtra, India, Phone: +91 9975607170, e-mail: meenakshi.
swallow. Tulley defines it as 1969—the forward movement of [email protected]
the tongue tip between the teeth to meet the lower lip during How to cite this article: Shah SS, Nankar MY, Bendgude VD, et al.
deglutition and in sounds of speech so that the tongue becomes Orofacial Myofunctional Therapy in Tongue Thrust Habit: A Narrative
interdental.1 Review. Int J Clin Pediatr Dent 2021;14(2):298–303.
Source of support: Nil
When to Correct Tongue Thrust? Conflict of interest: None
Tongue thrusting is normal in the neonate in which the tongue
lies between the gum pads and the mandible is stabilized by
facial muscles during a swallow. This gradually disappears with This review aims to act as a reference guide for clinicians
an eruption of primary dentition. Normal mature swallow shows enlisting the various myofunctional training methods for tongue-
the positioning of the tongue high on the palate behind the thrusting habit. It also describes the patient selection for orofacial
maxillary incisors and no lip and cheek activity during swallowing. myofunctional therapy (OMT) and cautions against the limitations
A transitional swallowing pattern is seen in mixed dentition, when of the same.
some primary teeth are lost and permanent are yet to erupt or are
erupting. This type of swallow is self-correcting. In cases of open
bite mostly created by habits like thumb sucking, the tongue gets R e v i e w R e s u lts
thrusted ahead to achieve a lip seal. This type of tongue thrust is Treating Tongue Thrust
called a “Simple Tongue Thrust”. “Complex tongue thrust” is seen in
Management of tongue thrust includes:2
individuals with a diffuse open bite, seen most commonly in mouth
breathers and in a child with a history of chronic nasorespiratory • Habit-breaking appliances like tongue cribs act as reminders
disease/allergies. “Retained Infantile Swallow” is when the infantile and restrict the forward movement of the tongue.
swallowing reflex perseveres after the eruption of permanent teeth. • Correction of malocclusion.
Intervention by a pediatric dentist is only required in cases of simple • Myofunctional therapy to correct the position of the tongue at
and complex tongue thrust as well as in “Retained Infantile Swallow”. rest and during swallow.
© Jaypee Brothers Medical Publishers. 2021 Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
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Myotherapy in Tongue Thrust
All these management strategies go hand in hand. A habit- The child is asked to blow into a balloon till its full capacity,
breaking appliance only attempts to block the heavy force of followed by letting the air release and then repeating again (Fig. 2).
swallowing, which, even when added up, only amounts to about • Bubbles-blowing exercise
20 minutes a day.3 The light, constant pressure of the tongue and A child blows bubbles from a toy with help of lips.
lips have much more influence on oral equilibrium than tongue • Button-pull exercise
thrust ever will. Only treating the intermittent heavy force created A thread/string is passed through a big button of about 2–3
by tongue thrusting is not treating the source of the problem and cm. The patient is asked to keep the button between lips and
hence after removal of the habit correction appliance and the teeth. The thread is pulled outside at the same time the button
reason of the tongue thrust is not attended to, the forward tongue is being held tightly in place by the lips. This improves the
position and functions can return leading to relapse. strength of the lips.
Two buttons can be used. One of the buttons is placed between
Myofunctional Therapy the lips of the patient, while the other is held by the patient
Orofacial myofunctional therapy includes exercises of the cervical outside.
and facial muscles for the improvement of proprioception, tone, • Whistling
and mobility.4 The child can use a whistle as a prop or purse the lips together
Orofacial myofunctional therapy is neuromuscular re-education for whistling. Whistling activates the perioral and cheek
of the muscle function to improve the functions of swallow, tongue, muscles.11
oral breathing, and rest posture of lips, tongue, and cheeks.5 • Lip-stretching exercise
Orofacial myofunctional therapy acts as an adjunct to The patient stretches the upper lip in a down and out motion till
orthodontic treatment and helps in harmonizing the orofacial its maximum capacity. This is repeated 10 times. Variation of the
function.6 same exercise is to hold the stretched upper lip down by pressing
It includes exercises that help with toning and resistance the lower lip against it for 30 seconds and repeated 15–20 times
training of the oral musculature.7 a day. This exercise improves the tone of the upper lip.12
Orofacial myofunctional therapy in tongue thrust habit acts • Gum drop exercise
as an adjunct to speech therapy and orthodontic correction of “Gum drop exercise” in which a large size gum drop is taken,
malocclusion.8 It also helped stabilize the treated malocclusion9 approx. 1 ounce. An 18–20 inch string, depending on the height
and improve the child’s oral awareness.10 of the patient is taken. One end of the string is attached to the
Orofacial myofunctional exercises for tongue thrust: gum drop, and the other end is behind the teeth and held with
the lips. The patient is asked to place his/her hands behind the
• Lip exercises:
back and to bend forward till the face is parallel with the floor
• Lip closure and competency exercise and the string is stretched. Then, the patient is asked to open
T ightly closing the lips together. The child holds a piece of his lips and stretch them as far down as possible, and the same
cardboard/ice cream stick between the upper and lower lip procedure is followed 5–10 times a day.
for 5 seconds and repeated 5–10 times. This will improve lip • Card-pull exercise
competency. In “card pull exercise” a piece of paper or cardboard is held
• Lip puffing exercise tightly between the upper and lower lip. The child tries to pull
The child is asked to force air in-between the lips and teeth and the cardboard in an outward motion, the lips try to resist the
puffing out the lips as much as possible (Fig. 1). same. It is similar to “tug of war” and “button pull exercise”.12
• Lip movements and “oo-ee” sound • Drinking out of a straw
The child is asked to spread the lips and purse them as in an Drinking from a straw is an exercise that shows high compliance
exaggerated “oo-ee”. with children which aids in oral posture correction exercising
• Ballooning exercise lip, cheek, and tongue muscles. However, only a small segment
Fig. 1: Lip puffing exercise Fig. 2: Ballooning exercise
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Myotherapy in Tongue Thrust
of the straw should be allowed inside the mouth. A “Lip Blok” • Touch-nose exercise
aids this activity where it acts as a stopper. T ouch nose exercise involves protruding out the tongue and
The impact of these exercises can be increased by using twisted trying to touch the tip of the nose. This has to be held in this
straws and thick liquids like milkshakes that demand more position for 10 seconds and repeated 10 times.
effort to suck. • Touch chin exercise
• Spoon-holding exercise with lip In this exercise, the child is required to protrude out the tongue
The child is asked to hold the handle of a spoon between the to try to lick the bottom of the chin. The position should be
lips, just like in a lemon-spoon race, only this time the spoon held for 10 seconds and should be repeated 10 times.
is not held by teeth but only with the help of lips. The spoon • Tongue-sideways movement exercise
should be parallel to the floor. As the strength of the lips This exercise involves protruding the tongue out and moving
improves, the weight on the spoon can be increased. Repeat it in extreme right and left directions. The tongue is to be held
10 times. in each direction for 10 seconds. This exercise is to be repeated
• Exercise by wind instruments 10 times on each side.
The use of wind instruments like trumpet strengthens the • Tongue-rolling exercise
lip muscles and assists in confining the action of the tongue In this exercise, the child is required to roll the tongue by folding
within a definite area. The supply of blood to that part of the its edges toward the midline such that it resembles a taco shell.
lips coming in contact with the mouthpiece improves due In this rolled position the child has to protrude the tongue out
to a stimulating effect. Regular and monitored usage of this to the maximum extent possible while holding it for 10 seconds.
instrument will result in improved tonicity of the hypotoned This exercise has to be repeated 10 times.
tissue and lengthening of short flabby lips. The position of the • Orthodontic elastics and swallow
tongue during the usage of the wind instrument is high in the This exercise is done with either no. 5 or 6 elastics. The child is
palate which is desirable, as it stimulates tissues of the lower required to place the elastics at the tip of the tongue followed
lip while reducing tension in the upper lip.When a child plays by raising the tongue to touch the spot on the palate. This
other wind instruments like the flute, the upper, and lower exercise is to be repeated several times. While continuing to
lips are engaged, thereby improving the strength and tone.13 hold the elastic at the spot, the child should salivate, followed
• Other lip exercises by swallowing.
• Suck in the cheeks and lips to make the lips look fish face. • Hold and pull exercise
Hold this position for 5 seconds. The hold and pull exercise is aimed at stretching the lingual
• Hold the lips into an “O” shape. frenum.16 In this exercise, the child is asked to slowly open his
• Open the mouth wide to open out the lips wide apart. mouth while holding the tip of the tongue constant against
• Lip KISSES. the hard palate at the crest.
• Make child line up stuffed animals and kiss them all • Tongue-exercise using food reinforcers
goodnight. Any sticky food item can be placed either on the palate, in the
vestibule, corners of the mouth, or on the lips and the child
• Tongue exercises licks it off with the tongue, thereby increasing the tongue
• Tongue spot strength. For these exercises, peanut butter or yogurt acts as
T he child is asked to locate the spot behind the upper incisors a good reinforcer.
on the palate. Hold the tongue at the spot for 10 seconds and • K sound and swallow
repeat 10 times. This exercise involves pronunciation of the sound “Kh”. When
• Tongue click the child says “Kh” in an explosive way, the posterior part of
Placing the tongue against the roof of the mouth (at the spot) the tongue touches the soft palate and the tip of the tongue
snap it down, to make a clicking or popping noise. remains low. This creates awareness of the posterior tongue
• Swallowing thin liquid action in the child.K sound and swallow exercise involves
The child is asked to take some water in the mouth, at the same first saying the “Kh” sound, followed by salivating, and then
time holding the tongue at the spot, not allowing the liquid swallowing. This refines the normal way of swallowing for the
to fall out of the mouth. Hold for 5 seconds and swallow. The child.
same can be repeated by closing the teeth together followed • Hold of tongue blades and push the tongue
by swallowing. In this, the tongue surface touches the roof of This exercise strengthens the muscles of the tongue and the
the mouth.14 throat. In this exercise, the child is expected to keep two tongue
• Swallowing thick liquid blades/ice cream sticks on the incisal edge of lower anterior
Ask the child to take a sip of a thick liquid like a milkshake and teeth with 2–3 cm of the blade extending inside the mouth.
hold the tongue at the spot, not allowing the liquid to fall out Then, the child is required to try and lift the tongue blades
of the mouth. Hold for 5 seconds and swallow. against the resistance of the firmly held blades (Figs 3 and 4).
• 4S exercise • Tongue exercise using a spoon
4S stands for spot, salivate, squeeze, and swallow. The tongue A spoon or any hard object is to be held in front of the lips
is taken to the “Spot”, behind the maxillary incisors, patient while the tongue pushes against it. This has to be done for 10
is asked to hold the tongue there as he salivates, followed by seconds with the tongue steady, straight, and not allowing it
squeezing the spot and then swallowing with the teeth brought to point downward. Complete 10 repetitions of this exercise.
together while maintaining the tongue at the position. It is • Tongue retraction
advisable to follow this swallowing exercise at least 40 times a In this exercise, the patient is required to touch the back of his
day to imbibe this new swallowing pattern.15 tongue against the palate while holding it in this position for a
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Fig. 3: Hold of tongue blades Fig. 4: Tongue push exercise
tongue covers front teeth below the upper lip. hold it for 10
seconds. This is a fun exercise and strengthens muscles (Fig. 5).
• Orthodontic rubber band exercise
First place an orthodontic rubber band on the tip of the tongue.
Place the tip of the tongue against the roof right behind the
upper front teeth. Occlude your teeth in a regular bite. Do not
bite forward Keep the lips apart and swallow while keeping your
lips apart and teeth closed Two sets of 30 swallow practices are
recommended every day.17
• Lingual immaturity exercises
In this exercise, the patient has to protrude out the tongue
and move it in different directions and speed. First, the patient
learns to move the tongue in various directions and practices
holding it steady. The next level is to move it in circular motions
clockwise and anticlockwise, 10 times each. While performing
circular motions the tongue tip should sweep the vermillion
border of the lips. The child can perform this exercise with the
Fig. 5: Monkey face exercise help of a mirror. The difficulty of this exercise can be increased
by turning the lips outward/toward the buccal surface and
minimum of 3 seconds. This activity is to be repeated 5 times performing circular motions with the tongue.18
at any given instant. • Other tongue exercises
• Tongue-extension exercise
In this exercise, the patient is required to protrude his/her • Vibrating toothbrush
tongue in-between the lips to a maximum extent as possible, vibrating toothbrush can be used for brushing teeth. The
A
holding it constant in this position for 3–5 seconds. This activity vibration stimulates tongue movement and acts as a strong
is to be repeated 5 times at any given instant.15 sensory input.
• Tongue-pull exercise • Teeth counting exercise
Gently pull tongue outside and hold it with help of hands by Ask children to count teeth with the use of the tongue. This
applying light pressure. Variations: pull your tongue left, right, helps by movements of the tongue in all the directions and
up, or down. challenging yet funny exercise for children (Fig. 6).
• Tongue around the world • Self-realization and swallow lessons
The child is asked to move his/her tongue around the teeth The child needs to ensure that the muscles used for facial
in small circles (4–5 rounds) building up 15 in each direction 3 expression are not engaged during swallowing for all the
times a day to strengthen tongue muscles. myofunctional training exercises listed here. The child should
• Tongue push-ups be made aware of the perioral, mentalis, and facial muscle
The child pushes his/her tongue up against a spoon/popsicle contractions.11
stick 10 times. He/she can try to make the tongue move straight • Air-sucking exercise
up. While doing this exercise ask kids to look into a mirror to In cases of children with open bite malocclusion, either partial,
see whether they are doing it right or not. complete or thrusting of the tongue sideways, “open-lip,
• Monkey face exercise tongue-back, air sucking exercise” is beneficial. In this exercise,
Ask kids to put their tip of tongue over front teeth under upper the child has to close his back teeth tightly together, open his
lips. In the case of a full monkey face, more than a tip of the lips wide and suck in air vigorously. At the same time, the tongue
International Journal of Clinical Pediatric Dentistry, Volume 14 Issue 2 (March–April 2021) 301
Myotherapy in Tongue Thrust
Fig. 6: Teeth-counting exercise
is to be drawn back such that the tip of the tongue touches the • Open the jaw wide and say aaahhh!! And hold for 3–6
back of the palate ridges, followed by swallowing. A mirror seconds.
should be used to ensure that the tongue is pulled back and • Massage the jaw gently toward and away from the lips.
stays in the same position without touching the teeth at any
• Breathing exercises
point of time or place.19
reathing exercises include a combination of pranayam, balloon
B
• Bite and swallow procedure
blowing, and water holding in the mouth, all while performing
T he child is asked to bite on a pliable rubber/chewie/soft tube breathing through the nasal cavity. For pranayam, the air is
and then by making a click sound patient is asked to bite and inhaled and exhaled rapidly through the nose keeping the
swallow. This activity is for improving masseter and temporalis mouth shut, but relaxed. Balloon blowing exercise has a high
muscle contraction. degree of compliance from child patients. A deep breath is
taken through the nose and this air is exhaled into a balloon.
• Cheek exercises
The balloon is expanded to its maximum capacity by exhaling
These exercises use a combination of water, tongue movements,
more breaths into it. This can be repeated 3 times a day.15
and puffing to strengthen the cheek muscles.
• Subconscious therapy:
• While holding water in the mouth the child is required to
After multiple exercise sessions, reminder signs or boards can
shift the water sideways.
act as cues for the child to ingrain the correct swallowing pattern
• Alternatively, the patient can puff his/her cheeks with air.
in the subconscious.
The child shifts the air from one cheek to the other while
ensuring that no air escapes from the mouth or the nose.
This is to be repeated a minimum of 5–10 times and should
D i s c u s s i o n
be performed 5 times a day. Patient Selection for Orofacial Myofunctional Therapy
• Rolling the tongue from one cheek to the other cheek. in Tongue Thrust
• Fish face exercise: Puffing the cheeks with air, the child Orofacial myofunctional therapy is not indicated in tongue
should blow a fish face repeating the activity 10 times at thrusters in absence of speech/dental problems according to the
any given instant. authors Proffit and Mason.8 There is no common agreement in
• Miscellaneous exercises the published literature regarding the right age for starting OMT
in tongue thrust.20 Some pediatric dentists have successfully used
• Yawning exercise myotherapy in children <10 years of age.21 Whereas some prefer
awning strengthens the throat muscles as it pulls the tongue
Y waiting till 10 years of age or more, as there could be spontaneous
backward, upward, and also toward the back of the throat. closure of the anterior open bite.8 Before starting OMT for tongue
• Mirror exercise for the soft palate thrust patients, it is important to make sure that any anatomical
E xercising the uvula while looking into the mirror is an effective variation like tongue-tie is corrected. The need for surgical
way to improve the strength and tonicity of muscles in the soft reduction of excessive lymphoid tissue should also be evaluated
palate and the pharynx. before initiating myotherapy.22
• Jaw exercises: Number, Duration, and Frequency of Sessions
• Handheld massagers held to the jaw for a few seconds at A treatment program planned for any child should have a
a time are known to stimulate the muscles of mastication. minimum of 20 sessions. The first 10 sessions are dedicated
Vibration is very stimulating in short bursts and helps in to learning the tongue posture. The next sessions help with
relaxing the taut muscles. monitoring the taught exercises. The myotherapy sessions should
302 International Journal of Clinical Pediatric Dentistry, Volume 14 Issue 2 (March–April 2021)
Myotherapy in Tongue Thrust
continue till the exercises are ingrained in the child’s subconscious. 6. Homem MA, Vieira-Andrade RG, Falci SG, et al. Effectiveness of
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Limitations of Orofacial Myofunctional Therapy orthodontic appliances with and without orofacial myofunctional
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10. Van Dyck C, Dekeyser A, Vantricht E, et al. The effect of orofacial
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