Does Tongue Thrusting Affect Treatment?

Message

#1 Post by **eddieb** » Fri Sep 12, 2008 2:45 pm

Hi,
My ortho said that I have spacing primarily because when I sleep, my tongue pushes against my teeth. Now that I have braces on, which will be pulling my teeth back, won't my tongue be countering that when I sleep?? Does anyone know if the force of the tongue pushing against the teeth will be enough to negatively affect the braces trying to bring the teeth back in place? thanks

#2 Post by **eddieb** » Fri Sep 12, 2008 6:50 pm

My ortho said she'll give me a retainer with something on the top of it to help the habit, but this is post braces. I'm wondering if the habit with impact my teeth during the treatment.

#3 Post by **jaswi** » Fri Sep 12, 2008 8:13 pm

It shouldnt impact treatment while in braces, cause the effects are cumulative over a long period of time. Since your ortho has a plan already to include a habit trainer with your retainer, you should be in good shape

#4 Post by **PuppySmiles** » Fri Sep 12, 2008 11:56 pm

Evidently the whole tongue thrust thing is a habit, and can be broken. One of the four ortho's I consulted is actually recommending that I see a speech therapist - both to address the tongue thrust, and also the tiny little bit of a lisp I've got. (Lishp. Lithp. Ooo, I'm Cindy Brady!)

Have you asked your ortho to tell you more about it?

#5 Post by **eddieb** » Sat Sep 13, 2008 9:45 am

she recommended i practice keeping my tongue on the roof of my mouth. She said I have a nice sized tongue, therefore it when my mouth is closed, it pushes between my top and bottom teeth. I try to keep it on the roof of my mouth as much as possible

#6 Post by **PuppySmiles** » Sat Sep 13, 2008 12:26 pm

Sounds like practicing now, and the retainer when you're done, should do the trick, right?

#7 Post by **KARESS** » Sat Sep 13, 2008 4:10 pm

i find that sometimes my tongue pushes my top teeth
but it hasnt hurt anything.

#8 Post by **eddieb** » Sat Sep 13, 2008 5:50 pm

I just hope it all works out after all the monetary investment that goes into it. [/list]

#9 Post by **ReneG** » Sun Sep 14, 2008 8:06 pm

I also have tongue thrust. It's a really strong muscle and does have to potential to ruin our teeth positioning.

My ortho asked me to retrain my tongue and lower jaw positioning. Basically just consciously hold them in place - tongue all the way back (overcompensate the positioning) and lower jaw in the correct place instead of jutting out to meet my upper jaw.

Since I had to learn to speak with this new positioning, my ortho did not suggest any therapist but asked that I work it through on my own and if I needed help, he'd gladly make a referral.

He also reminded me that as I have both upper and lower jaw surgery on the cards, I would have plenty of time to make the adjustment for both tongue and lower jaw. However, if I still needed it then, I would have a physical appliance to hold my tongue in the correct place.

I've found that over the past 6 months, my tongue and lower jaw are in the correct place more often than not. In the earlier period, this was not the case and I had to consciously move them in place and hold them in place.

Yes, habits can be changed and I hope that I won't need the physical appliance!

#10 Post by **lilblackdress** » Mon Sep 15, 2008 9:52 am

I, too, have a tongue thrust but it hasn't impaired my progress with braces yet. I think I'll end up with a bonded retainer once they come off though. Since I've been made aware of my thrust, I've been making a more conscious decision to keep my tongue in its proper place, though it isn't always easy.

Oh, and there's some kind of appliance that has spikes attached to it, that "remind" your tongue where it isn't supposed to be. One of the orthos I consulted before getting braced, said that the appliance might be an option for me if my tongue thrust really was that bad. I didn't choose that ortho...

Anyway, there are ways to work with or around a tongue thrust so that your treatment can continue.