Many providers are not aware of and never look for a tongue thrust, thus missing an important component of health.
A infant presented with some issues along with abnormal tongue movement. Mom did not quite know what to make of it.
The infant spent much of the day jutting her tongue out of her mouth. My first thought was that she had a tongue thrust.
When a patient normally swallows, the tip of their tongue touches the roof of their mouth. In tongue thrusting, the tongue hits the back of the front upper and lower teeth with some force. In the case of an infant, it protrudes out of the mouth a lot.
A normal oral balance exists between the tongue and the lip muscles to keep the front teeth in a stable position. But if the forces of the tongue dominate, the front teeth can separate and splay out of correct alignment.
Mom also said that she did funny twists with her tongue. Tongue thrusting can also happen at rest and during speech.
In the medical model, there is no drug, surgery, or technology for correction. In my six years of dental education, no one knew the cause of tongue thrusting.
So the question becomes, “What can you do for a tongue that has gone off the rails?” My answer is go to a myofunctional therapist who does the Gillespie Approach.
In my world, every cell of the tongue is connected to every other cell in the body. If there is strain running from the right leg, left hip, or anywhere in the body into the tongue, that strain needs to be released.
This is a different way to look at the problem. What today is thought of as an oral condition now becomes a full-body problem.
I found that this infant had severe neck strain coming from her diaphragm that was pulling on her tongue. When I held the back of her neck and mom held the top of her tongue, a fierce strain arose in connecting those dots.
The release created a softening of both her neck and tongue. I expect her to do well with continued therapy.
Providers need to look for a tongue thrust in their evaluation. I am suggesting that, for some patients, it can be rooted in birth trauma and needs to be mitigated on the first day of life.
