3160 North Arizona Avenue, Suite 105, Chandler, Arizona 85225
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Tongue Thrust
Evaluation and Treatment
Tongue thrust is very treatable. A full recovery can be made with a commitment to the exercises necessary to correct the condition.
Our speech pathologists will work with your child on specific exercises designed to promote a normal swallowing pattern, as well as correct speech issues.
Your child will be given a set of daily exercises to correct the tongue thrust. It is important that your child consistently does the exercises for the tongue thrust to be corrected.
Follow-up treatments are scheduled to check progress and modify treatment if needed.
If your child has speech issues resulting from the tongue thrust, our speech therapist will work with your child to correct the specific articulation issues.
If there are any other underlying health conditions that contribute to your child's tongue thrust, those issues will need to be addressed with their doctor.
Who Will Be My Speech Therapist?
The professional in charge of each individual’s speech-language therapy program is known as a speech-language pathologist (SLP). The SLP will work with each individual to design a program that meets the unique needs of that person. Meaningful activities will be developed to make therapy interesting and effective in meeting goals.
Tongue Thrust
Signs and Concerns
Tongue thrust is an imbalance in facial muscles around the mouth which results in the tongue protruding during swallowing, talking, and when the tongue is at rest.
Causes
- long-term thumb sucking or long-term sucking of the fingers or tongue
- allergies and chronically swollen tonsils or adenoids
- A condition is known as tongue-tie where a band of tissue beneath the tongue is tight or too short
- Abnormal swallowing patterns
Concerns
A tongue thrust can cause misaligned teeth, swallowing issues, and speech articulation issues.
Schedule an evaluation with a speech therapist if you notice one or more of the following signs:
- Tongue protruding between or against the upper and/or lower "front teeth" when forming /s/, /z/, /t/, /d/, /n/, /l/, or /sh/
- Frequent open-mouth resting posture with the lips parted and/or the tongue resting against the upper and/or lower teeth
- Lips that are often cracked, chapped, and sore from frequent licking
- Frequent mouth breathing in the absence of allergies or nasal congestion
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We provide therapy service in schools, homes, on-line and in our clinic located in Chandler.