Pediatric Oral Motor Therapy, Speech Therapy Mirrors, Chewy Tubes

Oral motor refers to the function and use of the muscles of the face, which include the tongue, lips, and jaw. For chewing and swallowing, a child needs to have the right amount of strength, coordination, and range of motion in the mouth. When these are limited, a child has difficulty with eating.

What is Oral Motor Therapy?

Oral motor therapy uses a variety of exercises to develop strength, awareness, coordination, and mobility of the oral muscles. For example, it may be used to reduce tongue thrust or improve muscle tone of the face. Sometimes, it is applied along with feeding therapy to determine why a child is having difficulty in a particular area. Also, many speech therapists use oral motor when treating speech disorders.

What are Different Oral Motor Devices?

There are many kinds of oral motor devices to improve a child’s facial muscles for chewing and swallowing, such as brushes, mirrors, chew tools, and massagers. They each have their own purpose to stimulate and strengthen a child’s mouth.

An oral brush is usually made of firm rubber and is ideal for oral motor stimulation, facilitation, and desensitization of the teeth, gums, and palate. It helps a child who is hypersensitive to food textures, orally defensive, or has other oral motor differences and difficulties. By rubbing this device around the mouth, on the cheeks, tongue, and gums, it wakes up the mouth muscles. It assists a child to be able to brush the teeth, eat new textures, and tolerate new sensations.

A speech therapy mirror can be used at a rehabilitation facility or at home for adults as well as children. A mirror enables an individual to practice enunciation by working with a mirror to watch how the words are said. For example, when pronouncing the “g” in “reading” or “walking,” the tongue, jaw, lips, and mouth should move. Some mirrors are made of a shatterproof non-glass material for safety and longevity. It may open to form an angled stand to allow the individual to observe himself and the therapist at the same time. Other mirrors may have a frame which displays basic oral exercises so the individual can see and practice them all in one place.

Oral motor chew tools provide oral stimulation, build oral tone, exercise the mouth muscles, and facilitate the practice of biting and chewing skills. They can be used as oral fidgets to redirect finger and knuckle biting, pencil chewing, or chewing on shirts to a safer outlet. Chew tools are available in different shapes as well as various firmness. Softer chews work well with mild chewers or those with limited jaw strength. Tougher chews fit well with moderate chewers, and the toughest chews are for avid chewers or those who like to chew on firm items. Chew tools also have a variety of textures, depending on a child’s chewing and biting needs, while others are scented to spark an interest in using the chew tool.

Oral massagers produce soothing vibrations to provide somatosensory stimulation or help calm the user. They may have fun animal shapes to improve a child’s cooperation and various textures to fit a child’s needs. Others have more than one tip for oral stimulation.

A treatment kit enables a therapist to individualize patients’ routines. Each kit contains a comprehensive index, two clear plastic holders for grouping routines, special instruction cards, blank cards for additional exercises, and a flip top box.

Hulet Smith, OT
Rehabmart Co-Founder & CEO

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