Effectiveness of tongue thrust treatment on adults

[Hammykid]

Hi all, I recently went in for a consultation and the ortho said I thrust my tongue when I swallow. He recommended sending me to a tongue therapist or, if it gets worse, he would place a tongue thrust appliance on my teeth... has anyone gone to tongue therapy? Has it worked for you? I am hesitant to get the tongue thrust appliance, as I've read multiple reviews online that it does not work.

[testimony777]

Hello,

I was told the same thing at my consultation for braces. I had never heard of a tongue thrust. My ortho didn't recommend a tongue therapist but she did note that I would need a tongue crib. I turned to youtube and found tons of videos from people who specialize such treatments. I started doing the exercises and being mindful of my tongue placement. I have been in braces for about 14 months now and I have not needed a crib. I no longer have a tongue thrust and I have learned to keep my tongue in the correct resting position. If your ortho can give you a good recommendation to a therapist I would jump on it; those exercises really do work.

[Hammykid]

Thanks for your input. I will check Youtube out.

[Hammykid]

I cant find the edit button.
I want to add he referred me to an orofacial myologist. Good or bad?

[sneed1o1]

Hello,

I was told the same thing at my consultation for braces. I had never heard of a tongue thrust. My ortho didn't recommend a tongue therapist but she did note that I would need a tongue crib. I turned to youtube and found tons of videos from people who specialize such treatments. I started doing the exercises and being mindful of my tongue placement. I have been in braces for about 14 months now and I have not needed a crib. I no longer have a tongue thrust and I have learned to keep my tongue in the correct resting position. If your ortho can give you a good recommendation to a therapist I would jump on it; those exercises really do work.

Same here. No therapist, no tongue crib, just practicing the exercises to retain muscle memory in my tongue. I find that I wake up with my tongue in the correct position now by doing these.

[Hammykid]

Testimony, Sneed, thankyou for your advice. I found some videos by searching for tongue thrust exercises on Archwired forums and I started yesterday. It has made me notice my tongue. I got a call back from the myologist that I was referred to, and she quoted me $300 for just an evaluation since insurance likely will not cover speech therapy because I am over the age of 3. Frankly, that is too expensive, but she did offer some insight that mouthbreathing and my habit of putting my pinky between my tongue and pulling (but mostly mouthbreathing) likely both contributed to my open bite. I will do the exercises on Youtube and save a little money.

[claudiofranck]

My ortho did not give an option I AM getting an appliance, however I can choose the appliance, I have a choice, tongue spurs or crib. She prefers the crib but I would like to try the spurs since they seem less notiecable and might be less of on impact oin my speech however I have not decided yet on either. I am postponing the start of my treatment a few months, because of work I travel a lot and I want to have at least two months without traveling before I start in case I have any problems with the appliance I finally choose.

I mentioned those exercises to my ortho and she said in her experience they did not work very well for adults on their own. However she said appliance full therapy would be the best option if I could be very serious and constant about it. However because of the traveling for my job it would be hard to keep a constant schedule. So appliance it is and whatever the videos on YouTube could help.

Let us know how it works for you and which videos or exercises worked best for you.

Regards