The most important question I ask most in my practice is “where is your tongue resting right now?”
For the newbies who are just coming to see me, I often get a puzzled expression.
Those who have been to therapy sessions before, probably think I sound like a broken record. They’ve heard the spiel, they know why they are coming to therapy, and what our ultimate goal is in myofunctional therapy.
Our tongue should always rest on the hard palate, with a light suction, just behind the upper teeth.
But, why does it even matter?
There are multiple reasons. For one, there is a vagus nerve innervation on the palate.
When the tongue comes into contact with the palate, it helps to calm the nervous system by stimulating the vagus nerve, activating the parasympathetic nervous system, and helping the body get out of fight or flight.
When the tongue isn’t making contact with the palate, we often find ways to replace it… pacifier, chewing on pens, biting fingernails, tongue sucking, and other oral habits. Which is why I am NOT a fan of oral habit elimination programs, because if we focus on correct tongue position and the steps to get there, the habits almost always disappear on their own!
Here’s an insider tip to calm down your nervous system: Place your tongue on your palate, teeth slightly apart, close your eyes, steady breathing through your nose. It calms down the nervous system every time!
The tongue is our natural palate expander, helping to guide the palate to grow wide enough to accommodate all of your teeth and also guiding the jaw to grow forward as well.
Without the tongue up on the palate, we often find a high and narrow palate that can not accommodate all of the teeth. We see crowding, crooked teeth, and recessed jaws as a result.
So – my most asked question is also the most important question I ask in my Myo practice.
“Where is your tongue resting right now?”
Our tongue helps to create the basic building blocks for optimal palate and jaw growth.
