What causes tongue thrusting and Orofacial Myofunctional Disorders (OMD)?
• Oral habits such as excessive thumb- or finger-sucking, lip/cheek and fingernail biting, lip licking, and teeth clenching and grinding. • Family heredity can be involved in determining such factors as the size of the child’s mouth, the arrangement and number of teeth, and the effectiveness of lip, tongue, mouth, and facial muscles. • A restricted nasal airway due to enlarged tonsils and adenoids may create an open-mouth breathing pattern. Environmental factors that contribute to airway difficulties include allergies. • Neurological or developmental abnormalities • Abnormally large tongue, short lingual fermium (tongue-tie), or other structural or physiological abnormalities.
