Tips Before Starting Therapy

1. Encourage and motivate child to accept responsibility for regular practice.
 2. Get a responsible adult to assist with home practice. 
  • Adult should attend each therapy session and observe the exercises as they are demonstrated by the clinician.
  • Assignment sheets to take home are helpful for each lesson, which outlines precisely what the child is to do and what the parent is to look for in monitoring the practice at home.
3. The cooperation of the orthodontist is essential. 
  • It is a good practice to accept cases after they have been seen by an orthodontist.
  • Dental impressions should be taken by a qualified person before and after therapy.
  • Movement of the anterior maxillary teeth in the direction of a normal bite will aid the clinician in different therapy strategies.

4. Mouth breathing is a deterrent to the habituation of the proper swallow.
  • If the habit is due to a remedial medical problem, it should be taken care of before therapy begins.
  • If it is a functional problem, every effort should be made to help the child to practice breathing through the nose.

5. Use of a mirror is beneficial during therapy, as well as practice at home.
6. When selecting exercises to assign, consider the following:
  • If the purpose of a therapy exercise is to strengthen a muscle or set of muscles, work to correct the imbalance due to strength difference.
  • If the purpose of therapy exercise is to train the muscle to function in a certain manner, or in conjunction with other muscles in a new manner, the most beneficial exercise will most closely resemble the actual swallowing movements.

7. Always consider the type/location of tongue thrust before starting therapy. (anterior, unilateral, bilateral)
  • For example: If anterior thrust, therapy should not be started until the maxillary central incisors have fully erupted.
  • Also, what works for one type of thrust, may not work for another.

8. Whenever there is any doubt about the client’s ability to remember to swallow correctly, provide them with one or more reminders, such as charts, signs, and signals. 

9. Therapy is not complete until non-swallowing situations are remedied, such as frontal lisp and habitual lip-licking. 
  • Include a treatment of these problems whenever needed.

References


Hanson, M.L. (1965). Some suggestions for more effective therapy for tongue thrust. Journal of Speech and Hearing Disorder, 75-79.