Tongue Thrust

Persisting oral habits, including pacifier and thumb-sucking beyond age one, as well as allergies, enlarged tonsils and enlarged adenoids may contribute to forward motion of the tongue during swallowing, also called tongue thrust, immature swallow, but technically referred to as oro-myofunctional disorders. Most children attain the mature swallow by the age of one.  The tongue thrust causes the tongue to exert pressure on the teeth and often contributes to orthodontic problems.  In therapy, these problem behaviors are identified and changed. The likelihood of maintaining the improvements achieved by orthodontia is greater when oral habits are normalized.  People with tongue thrust often have difficulty with the /s/ and /z/ sounds.