Why is Tongue Resting Posture SO Important?
You may have heard a Speech Therapist talk about your child’s tongue resting posture.
Oral/tongue resting posture is the tongue position in the mouth when sleeping, in-between talking, and working out!
Oral meaning mouth!
So, let’s practice together!
Close your eyes and ensure that your lips are properly closed. Ask yourself where your tongue is located.
At the top of your mouth?
In the middle?
Or at the bottom behind your bottom teeth?
Did you find it?
The tongue should be positions behind your front teeth, up in the palate. The palate is another name for the roof of your mouth.
When your tongue is positioned at the roof of your mouth, it encourages nasal breathing, diaphragmatic breathing (breathing from the abdomen and not the chest), assists with proper teeth growth and alignment, and may influence sleep and speech patterns.
How does this affect so many areas of development?
I’m so glad you asked!
When the tongue is positioned at the top of the mouth, your body is forced to breathe through the nose. When you breathe through your nose, it warms, humidifies, and filters the air that is going into your lungs.
Furthermore, when you breathe through your nose, it encourages proper breathing through the diaphragm. It should be noted that proper posture is important for diaphragmic breathing. Shoulders should be drawn back and the back parallel to the chair you’re sitting on.
You can test to see if you are breathing deeply through your diaphragm or shallowly through your chest by placing one hand on your chest and one hand on your abdomen. Breathe deeply and watch which hand moves.
As a side note, you don’t want to see your shoulders rising and falling.
Next proper tongue positions affect teeth alignment. When the tongue can fit up at the top of the mouth, the tongue acts as a natural retainer for the teeth. During growth, this can influence how the teeth grown into place. After braces, this can influence whether or not you will experience a relapse.
When your tongue is resting at the top of the mouth, the teeth can grow around the natural retainer and provide a wide palate. This affects the symmetry and growth of the face.
Last, tongue position can affect speech sounds and sleep.
Have you ever noticed that a lot of people who bite their nails, suck their fingers/thumbs, and bite on their hair MAY also demonstrate an /s/ with their tongue sticking between their teeth?
Believe it or not, these two are linked together.
When the tongue is not resting at its “home base”, it is more difficult for the tongue to get into position for specific speech sounds. It may be hard to coordinate the tongue. Also, if the tongue is in the middle or bottom of the mouth at all times, it may be weak. If the tongue is weak, it may cause a lot of unclear speech.
Proper tongue position may also influence sleep. Studies have shown direct correlations among bed wetting, sleep apnea, fitful sleep, restless sleep AND proper tongue position (AKA nose breathing).
Proper tongue position influences how individuals may talk and present themselves.
Overall, tongue posture affects more than we realize.
