Tongue thrust and its influence in orthodontics.

The oral myofunctional disorder of tongue thrust has been described in various ways, such as 'deviate swallow' 'infantile swallow, and 'abnormal swallow' to name a few. The term 'tongue thrust' has been adopted, mainly because of its greater usage among authors, and since it gives a more accurate description of the lingual behavior about to be discussed. 'Tongue thrust' and 'tongue thrusting' are used in preference to 'tongue thrust swallow' or 'tongue thrust swallowing' because this behavior is generally thought to be less associated with the act of swallowing and more with the resting posture of the tongue. 'Thrust' is still an inappropriate word since the tongue is not really 'thrusting' during rest. However, it must be remembered that 'thrusting' in this instance is still a mild but continuous lingual pressure factor. The significance lies in whether or not this 'thrust, either during swallowing and other functional behaviors, or during rest, is responsible for, contributes to, or is a consequence of the development of a malocclusion.