Tongue Thrust Therapy

The Premier Solution for Tongue Thrust Therapy, featuring an informal assessment and 10 weeks of therapy exercises, complete with descriptions, tips and tricks, and video demonstrations.

The 10 week program consists of 18 different exercises designed to improve tongue thrusts (orofacial myofunctional disorders.) The treatment program is designed to be used under the direction of a certified Speech Language Pathologist. In using this program, a Speech Language Pathologist will be able to evaluate and treat irregular open-mouth postures and swallowing disorders associated with tongue thrust. The program teaches clients to increase the awareness of their mouth, facial muscles, and tongue postures. Clients are taught techniques to improve their muscle strength and coordination. Most importantly, through this program, a client's oral musculature is retrained to produce a correct and mature swallow pattern free of any thrust movement or pressure.

The program provides an informal assessment to help determine if a tongue thrust exists and/or the severity level of a tongue thrust. The program offers weekly therapy session guidelines. Each weekly guideline contains multiple exercises to be taught by the Speech Language Pathologist to a client on a consistent weekly basis. The client then practices the exercises throughout the week, tracking their practice on the exercise worksheets. The videos, written descriptions, and tips are provided to ensure the exercises are taught and practiced correctly.

To see a preview of the program's structure and content, visit http://www.BustTheThrust.com/week1.html to see all contents and exercises for the first week.

What is a tongue thrust?
A tongue thrust, otherwise known as an orofacial myofunctional disorder, occurs when the tongue moves forward in an exaggerated way during speech and/or swallowing. The tongue may lie too far forward during rest or may protrude between the upper and lower teeth during speech and swallowing, and at rest. A person typically swallows between 1,200 and 2,000 times within a 24 hour time period with about four pounds of pressure each time. If a person suffers from a tongue thrust, this continuous pressure tends to force the teeth out of alignment. Many orthodontists complete orthodontic treatment with what appears to be good results, only to discover that the case relapses because of the patient's tongue thrust. If the tongue is allowed to continue its pushing action against the teeth, it will continue to push the teeth forward and reverse any orthodontic work performed.

Notes:
The informal assessment is only an informal assessment, and does not definitively diagnose a person as having a tongue thrust. The assessment can be used by speech language pathologists, dentists, and orthodontists to evaluate structure, function, and common characteristics of tongue thrusts.
The program should only be used under the direction of a licensed speech language pathologist or orofacial myologist.

Recent changes:
Fixed a bug that caused a crash when requesting the Informal Assessment and weekly worksheets with no internet connectivity