Oral Dysfunction

Some of you may recognize this video from the course IntaOral Treatment. This will be a good refresher for you. Although this is one of the most severe cases of oral dysfunction I've ever seen and there are many subtleties and variations of dysfunction, this is a good case to show you key things you should notice in your practice.

1. He doesn't have a healthy suckle reflex (the reflex a baby has that automatically cues them to suck on the thing that has entered their mouth. (Background on this baby-I'd seen him in my office several times before this video was made, as a very new baby, and this was always the case for him - it's not just b/c he's a bit older here)

2. His gag reflex is probably one of the worst I've seen. Normally I can get my finger slightly into the mouth at the hard palate, just beyond the alveolar ridge but with him, he gags at the slightest contact.

3. See his tongue flopping around all over the place?  It has low muscular tone as I press on it from side-to-side he doesn't "push back" on my finger.

4. See the saliva? Tons of it. NOT normal! This goes with the idea that his poor oral function doesn't allow him to swallow very well.

Get better at assessing the mouth. Stop guessing! Make sure you aren't missing anything.

Take the online courses

1. Tethered Oral Tissues and How Osteopathy Can Help
2. IntraOral Treatment

on this website.

Have a great day!

Joanne Lynne, OMP, instructor and content creator for manual osteopaths