Question Regarding Tongue Thrust

Acklay · **Posted:** Mon May 28, 2012 8:28 pm

When I found out I was getting braces I became obsessed with reading about braces and anything related to them when I cam across the subject of tongue thrusting. After reading about it, I have become somewhat conscience of why my tongue does when I swallow, but I am unclear on what it is supposed to do. Hopefully some of you can shed some light on the subject for me.

I have a very deep bite, and when I put my teeth together and swallow my tongue presses very firmly against my bottom teeth. At the same time, the top of my tongue further back presses against the roof of my mouth. What I want to know is if this is correct or if this is a problem.

I read on another website that if you can't swallow without having your lips together there is a good chance you have a tongue thrust issue. I tried, and I absolutely cannot swallow without using my lips.

If it is a problem, then perhaps my deep bite has kept my bottom teeth from pointing out? Or have I completely misunderstood the issues here? If I do have a tongue thrust problem, will this affect my orthodontic treatment?

Any information you have would be immensely helpful!

OldBikerBag · **Posted:** Mon May 28, 2012 11:10 pm

I was curious about this, too. From what I've been able to surmise, tongue thrust causes or exacerbates an open bite. I had to look that one up, too. But it's entirely possible that I'm completely off base.

Acklay · **Posted:** Tue May 29, 2012 8:30 am

I can't determine if my tongue presses against my lower teeth because it has nowhere else to go, (there is very limited space at the front of my mouth when my teeth are clenched because of my deep bite) or if it is a tongue thrust problem. Perhaps it will become more clear when my overbite starts going away.

Ellebraced · **Posted:** Tue May 29, 2012 9:28 am

Great question.

I was told by a dentist years ago that I probably had a tongue thrust and that's why my teeth moved after 1st time in braces (can't remember if I was wearing my retainers then). He said if I didn't get it fixed there was no point in braces again. Fast forward 10 years and when I got my braces 18 months ago I asked the ortho if this was a problem and he asked me to swallow and watched my mouth and said NO I didn't have this problem. I always felt my tongue hit my front teeth when I swallowed ( I had a 10 mm overbite too) Anyways, 18 months later I can tell my tongue now hits the roof of my mouth and not my front teeth, I am nearing the end of my treatment and now that my teeth are almost perfect and my overbite is non existent (maybe 1-2mm) my tongue has room to work properly I think. Hopefully as long as I wear my retainers my new smile will be permanent, no way I would do braces a 3rd time.

Good luck with your treatment, you could ask the ortho to evaluate and make sure you don't have tongue thrust.

Acklay · **Posted:** Tue May 29, 2012 12:44 pm

Thanks for sharing your experience Ellebraced. What you described sounds very similar to my situation. I think I'll wait until my overbite disappears some then bring it up if I still feel like there is a problem.

Question Regarding Tongue Thrust

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