University of Maryland School of Dentistry professor, Maureen Stone, believes that the legend of the strength of the tongue came about due to its amazing stamina. Many health disciplines are now championing the importance of proper myofunctional development, including speech pathologists, who deal frequently with improper tongue and speech patterns developed during early growing years.
The tongue’s tenacity springs from the way it is built, consisting of many similar bits of
muscle that can each perform the same task. In fact, many researchers argue that the tongue
is not just a muscle, but a muscular organ, which provides many critical functions for the entire
body.
It may not be the strongest muscle in the body, but it is certainly among them, and
it has stamina that rivals your jaw. It turns out that a large percentage of people develop varying degrees of oral-facial
disorders - all of which would benefit from myofunctional therapy.
Certain habit combinations formed during growth can tremendously alter proper tongue function. These include:
Is a misalignment of the teeth. Orthodontists work to provide a patient with the proper form of the teeth and jaws but oftentimes that is not be enough. Moreover, a wide range of conditions may be prevented years before they grow into dental disorders.
Nowadays, 3 of 4 children have a malocclusion caused by poor myofunctional habits and incorrectly developing jaws. This incorrect or inhibited development is easily identifiable in children as young as 3-5 years. With a less-invasive approach, the underlying conditions can be identified and retrained to encourage proper development.