| Abstract
This study analyzes the correlation between oromyofunctional disorders (OMD), specifically tongue thrust, and oral pharyngeal dysphagia (OPD).Typically, OMD and OPD are treated as two separate disorders. However, this study, and many studies before (Evans, 2015; Evers, 2013) are building evidence to support that the two disorders are connected. This study includes five subjects, one male and four females, ranging in age from 18-27 years. Each subject was assessed to confirm the presence/absence of tongue thrust, after which several objective and subjective measures were taken. Objective measures were obtained through the use of EMG and IOPI, and included tongue tip strength, tongue dorsum strength, lip strength, masseter contraction, and oropharyngeal transit time. Subjective measures observed by the researcher or reported by the subject included items such as: coughing, clavicular breathing, forward posture, chin-tuck posture, neck tension, open mouth posture, tongue protrusion, and a gurgly voice.
Results were analyzed and compared to normative data, presented by Holzer (2011) who looked at the same measures in individuals with a typical swallow function. The comparison between the raw data and the normative data represented significant differences in oropharyngeal transit time. The results of the data collected demonstrated changes in these OPD measures, suggesting that OMD and OPD may be more correlated than previously thought. It suggests that OMD may lead to later-life OPD, if tongue thrust, or the underlying cause of tongue thrust, is not resolved. |