Metal Mouth Message Board

I've had my braces off for two weeks.

Today I went to get my retainer, and the office manager went over my retention plan with me. I was shocked when she said, "Now the Dr. wants you to keep wearing your positioner (huge mouthguard thing) for an hour a day because of your severe tongue thrust...)

I was quite taken aback. I was like, what's a tongue thrust? Why has nobody told me I have such a thing?

I still don't quite understand what I am doing that qualifies as "tongue thrust". Is this something I can re-train myself to not do?

I think I may have one but I'm not sure. Check out chinadoll's story, she is having treatment for a tongue thrust.

viewtopic.php?t=9718

Regards
Joney

Joney, thanks for that.

I did a bit of research and I don't at all fit the tongue thrust profile. I don't breathe through my mouth, snore, drink copious amounts of liquids with meals to wash the food down, etc., but I did have an open bite so that probably was caused by a tongue thrust.

I'm going to pay attention to what my tongue does for a few days...

Hi BraceMD!

I did a bit of research and I don't at all fit the tongue thrust profile. I don't breathe through my mouth, snore, drink copious amounts of liquids with meals to wash the food down, etc., but I did have an open bite so that probably was caused by a tongue thrust.

I don't do any of this things either, but went I went to see my Ortho, she made me swallow, with my teeth closed and my lips wide open, and she said that I have a tongue thrust... (I apoligize again if my English isn't good enogh, I'm just trying to explain)
She told me, that when I swallow, my tongue comes forward, and pushes my front teeth... I never noticed that, I guess it's another consecuence of sucking my thumb when I was a child ... And she told me that when I finally get my braces, I'm going to have a "excersice routine" so my tongue gets used to its final position, and if that doesn't work, I'll have to see an specialist to train my tongue to work without pushing my teeth out! because it can compromise the final result of the braces...

I'm going to pay attention to what my tongue does for a few days...

And now, I'm doing the same, all the time checking what's my tongue doing, and how to fix it before I get the braces...

ya i think i have a tongue thrust because when my mouth is resting i always leave my teeth apart and have my tongue in between... but iver never been diagnosed because i've never told them tht i do the nor do they ask.. so if i think its going to be a problem i might ask.. but for right now.. its my own little secret lol

I have tongue thrust, but didnt know it until my ortho told me.

He says that I can practice swallowing the "adult way" by pressing the tip of my tongue to the front end of the roof of my mouth and then swallow without letting my tongue press forward to my teeth. ITS HARD!!! I try to practice as much as I can because I heard there is an instrument that they can use to put in your mouth where it will prick your tongue if you thrust your tongue forward when u swallow and i DONT want to use that, lol.

I will have to wear a retainer for life because of my tongue thrust.

I have an upper tongue thrust, which has contributed to my open bite. My ortho commented on it in my initial consultation but has never mentioned anything since. I was in braces 11 years ago when i was 14, but was never told that I had to wear retainers for the rest of my life, so with my upper tongue thrust still in tact it moved my top teeth and worsened my open bite.

Hopefully it will all be corrected when all this is over!

I'm pretty sure I have a tounge thrust, I always push my tounge against my teeth, particuarly now that i have braces on im constantly always pushing on my teeth because they feel strange. and I guess I'm always trying to feel if they have moved

after reading this I am now worried this will affect the outcome of my ortho treatment.

I think I will ask my dentist if I have 1 at my next adjustment and see what he suggest.

He says that I can practice swallowing the "adult way" by pressing the tip of my tongue to the front end of the roof of my mouth and then swallow without letting my tongue press forward to my teeth. ITS HARD!!! I

Oh my goodness I can't even DO that! I just tried and I dribbled tea all over my shirt!

I have the dreaded tongue thrust too! I used to breath through my mouth as a kid. Those two things combined (plus a pinch of genetics) were the reason for my narrow upper arch and open bite (on the side I thrust). I've been able to alter my "mouth behavior" during the day, but when I'm asleep, I go back to my bad habits. Stinker!!

Oh my god! This all rings so true with me - and I'd never even realised! Nothing has been mentioned to me by either my ortho or regular dentist but it all seems to click..... lol sportsgr97 I DO THAT TOO! I'm sooo glad I'm not the only one - my tongue is always either pushing up against my front teeth or resting between them (how I don't chew it to pieces on a daily basis is anybody's guess) unless I realise and bring it back into line. In fact, when I got a molar filling done a couple of weeks ago, with the local anaesthetic on one side my tongue was in its usual happy resting place between my teeth and I obviously bit down so hard on it without feeling it or realising that I gouged a great big hole in it that took a week to heal (you've gotta laugh!). And surprise surprise, the side I always find my tongue resting between my teeth is the side I have an open bite and my overjet is the worst. Coincidence?

I'm definitely going to have to bring this up at my bracketing appointment, I'm intrigued!

x

My tongue rests behind my front teeth ALL THE TIME...lol. And when I sleep I have a habit of clenching my jaws together extremely tight and pushing or thrusting my tongue onto the backs of my teeth. I don't realize it until I wake up in the morning with a splitting headache sometimes. It's worse when I stressed or have a lot on my mind when I go to sleep. Not fun. I am guessing this is part of the reason why my molars fit together perfectly and from incisor to incisor on top and bottom is flared outward with lots of spacing, with a big gap in the middle...ugh. Anywho..this too will go into my list of questions to ask at my appt.

i was also told by my orthodontist that i have a tongue thrust! i was unaware of this, but yeah, like someone else said, when you swallow, you push your tongue against the back of your top teeth! and this is why my front teeth have been pushed forward over time and my overbite being much worse.

When I went through this as a youngster....12-15 or so. I had a retainer, Hawley style, and it had a row of spikes on the top right at the front. This was to take care of my tongue thrust. I remember it making my tongue very raw and I used my grandfather's bench grinder to smooth them out.... I was a bad boy! I guess I didn't think the ortho would notice! Yeah right!

I seem to have a little bit of it. I hope I don't end up with spikes on my retainer this time! I doubt it.... Actually I would probably just tell her I don't care about any residual tongue thrust and to leave them off. Although that does go against my "doing it right this time" I suppose I should ask about this.

Kind of an aside :

A "tongue thrust" swallow pattern is a bit of a debatable topic in the orthodontic world...not the fact that some folks push there tongue forward when swallowing (especially with an openbite), but whether it is causative, or adaptive.

Sort of like what came first the chicken or the egg: did the swallow pattern make the openbite/flare the incisors, or does an individual just push their tongue forward to create a seal to swallow because of the way their mouth has developed. Many studies have been done looking at data like the duration of tongue pressure against the teeth, the amount of pressure while swallowing, the number of times a person swallows, resting tongue pressure, resting cheek pressures, etc.

Some people are quite passionate on both sides of the debate...advocates of correcting the swallow pattern, or largely ingoring it and just fixing the teeth/bite.

Just some food for thought!

Dr. S

PS...that dancing purple hippo cracks me up!