Are you using several commonly used oral muscle training methods correctly?

In daily rehabilitation, we often hear parents have such questions:

"My child doesn't chew when eating"; "My child often chokes when drinking water or eating"; "My baby always drools and is picky about food"; "My baby still can't use a cup/straw to drink water at this age" and other series of problems related to swallowing and eating, which occur quite frequently in special children. Due to abnormal muscle tension, muscle coordination and movement disorders, abnormal perception, weak muscles and other factors in special children, there are different degrees of problems in oral motor function, which are mainly reflected in the separation and coordination control of the mandible, lips, tongue, etc., resulting in feeding difficulties and articulation disorders, affecting children's nutrition, physical development and language development.

In fact, speech and swallowing are both very complex sensory motor functions. The lungs, trachea, larynx, jaw, pharynx and orofacial region are the components of the classical language system, and are also closely related to the oropharyngeal swallowing mechanism. Do you know the relationship between the three oral organs that are most closely related to eating and speaking: the mandible, lips and tongue? Only when we understand the relationship between the three, can we know how to train them correctly.

The mandible is the most basic structure in oral movement, just like the "foundation of a house". Only a solid foundation can build a solid "house". There are many muscles attached to the mandible, including lip muscles, mandibular muscles, hyoid muscles, etc. The lips are like the "door of the house", which keeps the items in the house safely in the house, and the tongue is like the "bed in the house". Only with these can we live comfortably. It can be seen that the stability of the mandible is so important for the movement of the lips and tongue.

Next, we will share some tips for oral muscle training in daily life.

1. Jaw training techniques

01 Jaw training materials

Teething gum, towel, sweet potato sticks, hawthorn sticks, fruit sticks

02Operation method (1) Natural bite training

Method 1

Activity name: Touch

Materials: Both hands

Operation method: The therapist/parent sits face to face with the child, places fingers on the child's face and left and right sides of the jaw, supports the child's lower jaw with the palms and bases of both hands, and asks the child to open his mouth and chew, helping the child feel the correct bite position.

Note: The upper and lower teeth are aligned, without any outward deviation, inward deviation or slippage of the lower jaw.

Method 2

Activity name: Bite bite bite

Material: Teeth glue

How to operate: The therapist/parent sits face to face with the child, puts the teether on the child's lower third molar, extends it from the mouth, trains the child to bite the teether, and helps the child find a natural bite action. Note: The upper and lower teeth are aligned, and there is no outward deviation, inward retraction or sliding of the lower jaw.

Method 3

Activity name: It’s delicious.

Ingredients: Sweet potato chips or fruit chips

Operation method: The therapist/parent sits face to face with the child and places the dental glue on the child's lower third molar to induce natural bite. The child is required to make 5-10 successful natural bites to train the correctness of the bite.

Note: The upper and lower teeth are aligned, without any outward deviation, inward deviation or slippage of the lower jaw.

(2) Maintaining occlusion training

Method 1

Activity name: Tooth tug of war game.

Material: Small towel

How to do it: The therapist/parent and the child sit face to face, place one corner of a small towel on the child's upper and lower front teeth, and place the other corner of the small towel on the therapist/parent's upper and lower front teeth. Let the two bite and push towards each other's side for 5-10 seconds to help the child train the stability of the lower jaw.

Method 2

Activity name: Teether chewing game.

Material: Teeth glue

Operation method: The therapist/parent sits face to face with the child, places the teether on the third molar on one side of the child and asks the child to bite down. The therapist/parent gently applies force to the outside and asks the child to bite and hold for 5-10 seconds. After completing one side, do the other side to help the child train the stability of the lower jaw.

(3) Chewing training

Method 1

Activity name: Slow bite training.

Ingredients: Strips of food, apple strips.

How to do it: The therapist/parent sits face to face with the child, places one end of the apple strip on the child's third molar, and puts the other end in the therapist/parent's hand, instructing the child to bite it. After he takes a bite, push the apple strip forward a little bit, encourage the child to take small bites continuously, and help the child control the height of the lower jaw.

Method 2

Activity name: Slow bite training.

Ingredients: Bar-shaped food, biscuit bars.

How to do it: The therapist/parent sits face to face with the child, places one end of the biscuit stick on the child's third molar, and the other end in the therapist/parent's hand, instructing the child to bite it. After he takes a bite, push the biscuit stick forward a little bit, encourage the child to bite continuously in small bites, and help the child control the height of the lower jaw.

2. Lip training techniques

01 Lip training materials

Spoon, rice, straw, popsicle, lipstick, tissue, bubbles, mirror, towel

02 Operation method (1) Lip opening training

Method 1

Activity name: Open your mouth wide.

Material: Mirror.

How to operate: The therapist/parent sits face to face with the child, and the therapist/parent takes out a mirror and asks the child to open his mouth in front of the mirror. Pay attention to the appropriate height of the chin when the child opens his mouth. Practice the child's jaw opening and lip opening ability.

Method 2

Activity name: Delicious cake.

Ingredients: Rice.

Operation method: The therapist/parent sits face to face with the child, gives the child a small cake to eat, and induces the child to open his jaw and lips. Also pay attention to the appropriate height of the chin when the child opens his jaw, and practice the child's ability to regulate jaw opening and lip opening.

Note: You can adjust the amount of food scooped out each time and let your child adjust the width of his lips each time.

(2) Lip closure training

Method 1

Activity name: Straw pinching game.

Materials: Straws.

Operation method: The therapist/parent and the child sit face to face and look at each other. The therapist/parent demonstrates how to take a straw and place it horizontally between his or her lips. At the same time, the child is given a straw and asked to imitate the same action, mainly to practice the child's lip control ability.

Method 2

Activity name: Lip Stamping Game.

Materials: Lipstick.

How to do it: The therapist/parent sits face to face with the child, paints a beautiful color on the child's lips with lipstick, then takes out a napkin and asks the child to make a red lip mark on the paper, mainly to practice the child's lip closure flexibility.

(3) Lip rounding training

Method 1

Activity goal: Eat popsicles.

Materials: Popsicles.

How to use: The therapist/parent and the child sit face to face, the therapist/parent places a frozen and slightly cooled popsicle between the child's lips, and asks the child to suck the popsicle to make the lips round, maintain for 2.5 seconds, and repeat 10 times, mainly to practice the child's lip rounding control ability.

Method 2

Activity name: Blow bubbles.

Materials: Bubble water.

How to use: The therapist/parent sits face to face with the child, places a bubble tube covered with bubble liquid in front of the child's lips, and asks the child to purse his lips to blow out the bubbles. This can be repeated 10 to 15 times, mainly to practice the child's ability to control lip rounding.

(4) Lip stretching training

Method 1

Activity name: Bite the straw game.

Materials: Straws.

Operation method: The therapist/parent and the child sit face to face, and the therapist/parent demonstrates how to hold a straw horizontally between the incisors on both sides and bite the straw. At the same time, the child is given a straw to imitate the same action and maintain it for 5 to 10 seconds. This is repeated 10 times, mainly to practice the child's lip control ability.

Method 2

Activity name: Tooth tug of war game.

Materials: Small towel.

Operation method: The therapist/parent and the child sit face to face, place one corner of a small towel on the position of the child's upper and lower front teeth, and place the other corner of the small towel on the position of the therapist/parent's upper and lower front teeth. Let the two bite and push towards each other's side for 5 to 10 seconds, and repeat 10 times. This not only helps the child train the stability of the lower jaw, but also trains the ability to open the lips.

3. Tongue training techniques

01Tongue training materials

Lollipops, yogurt, seaweed, straws, paper, mirrors

02 Operation method (1) Tongue retraction training

Method 1

Activity name: Drink yogurt with a straw.

Materials: Straw + yogurt.

How to do it: The therapist/parent sits face to face with the child, gives the child yogurt with a straw, and asks the child to hold the straw with his lips to practice sucking it one mouthful at a time. Gradually, he can switch to continuous drinking to finish the yogurt. This mainly practices the child's ability to control tongue retraction.

Note: Do not allow children to hold the straw with their teeth.

Method 2

Activity name: Moving Competition.

Materials: Straws + paper.

How to operate: The therapist/parent and the child sit face to face with their eyes level. Each of them holds a small straw, one end of which is clamped between the lips, and the other end is used to suck air through the straw to hold the small pieces of paper on the table to see who gets more small pieces of paper. This is mainly used to train the child's ability to continuously control tongue retraction.

(2) Tongue left and right, up and down training

Method 1

Activity name: Seaweed hide and seek game.

Ingredients: Nori.

How to operate: The therapist/parent sits face to face with the child. The therapist/parent tears the seaweed into small pieces and sticks them on the child's left/right/upper/lower lip. The child is asked to stick out his tongue to find the seaweed and eat it. This game mainly trains the child's tongue coordination and control ability left and right, up and down.

Method 2

Activity name: Chasing Lollipops.

Materials: Lollipop.

How to operate: The therapist/parent and the child sit face to face, and the therapist/parent places a lollipop on the left/right/upper/lower lip of the child, and asks the child to stick out his tongue to lick the lollipop. This game is also mainly to train the child's ability to coordinate and control the tongue left and right, up and down.

(3) Lip-circling training

Method 1

Activity name: Flexible little tongue.

Material: Mirror.

How to operate: The therapist/parent sits on the same side as the child and places a mirror in front of them. The therapist/parent first demonstrates how to move the tongue around the upper, lower, left and right gums, and asks the child to imitate the same action. The game mainly trains the child's tongue flexibility.