Does your child often keep their mouth open, put their tongue between their teeth or start orthodontic care? These observations may warrant an assessment. Tongue retraining focuses on a function to work on, such as swallowing or resting posture, with age-appropriate goals. Here is how to move forward without treating every habit as a problem.
What should you observe before an assessment?
Note what concerns you in everyday situations: resting with a book, eating, speaking or sleeping. Is the tongue visible between the teeth? Does your child mention discomfort? Do they regularly breathe through their mouth? A single observation cannot diagnose a disorder.
The dentist or orthodontist checks the bite and dental development. A professional trained in orofacial rehabilitation then assesses the relevant functions. The aim is to identify what actually needs work and what requires a different kind of care.
Persistent mouth breathing deserves particular attention. Studies associate it with certain dentofacial features, without proving it is their sole cause. Difficulty breathing through the nose calls for medical advice, potentially from an ENT specialist. A tongue exercise cannot remove an obstruction. See the review by Zhao et al.
What can tongue retraining offer?
It aims to teach movements and reference points: where the tongue rests, how it participates in swallowing and how to reproduce the requested movement outside the session. The programme may combine observation, active exercises and work with an appliance when indicated.
The most frequently cited findings need qualification. A pilot trial involving 22 children with open bite and atypical swallowing observed improvements in tongue posture and strength. It did not show improved speech articulation. Straight teeth or better pronunciation therefore cannot be promised to every child. Van Dyck et al., 2016
Systematic reviews describe encouraging findings, but the trials remain too heterogeneous to guarantee an orthodontic benefit. Koletsi et al., 2018
What does a child-appropriate programme involve?
- Define the starting point. The professional explains the movement observed and the selected goal.
- Demonstrate the movement. The child should be able to reproduce it without pain or obvious compensatory movements.
- Organise practice. The family leaves with clear instructions, a realistic practice time and criteria for stopping.
- Review the movement. The next session also helps correct any misunderstandings.
The parent's role is to support following instructions, not to monitor the tongue all day. A small notebook can record completed exercises and questions. Repetitions and frequency come from the individual programme; randomly increasing them does not make the work more appropriate.
Can an appliance replace exercises or orthodontics?
A standard appliance and active retraining involve different approaches. The choice depends on the assessment, age, dentition and the child's ability to follow instructions. Prefabricated appliances studied in the literature were used under professional supervision. This does not validate buying one independently to correct a malocclusion.
The French review by Amat and Tran Lu Y highlights limited evidence, discomfort and unwanted dental effects in some studies. Follow-up is therefore necessary, and wearing an appliance must not be presented as a guarantee of avoiding braces. Read the 2023 review
Our guide to tongue positioning appliances explains the differences between devices.
What should you ask the professional?
- Which function does my child need to work on?
- How can we recognise the correct movement at home?
- Is a breathing or orthodontic assessment needed before starting?
- Which appliance, size and instructions suit their situation?
- When should progress and any discomfort be checked?
To prepare for this appointment, also see our guidance on choosing a physiotherapist or speech and language therapist. The right pathway addresses an observed difficulty, with a goal the family understands.
Sources and method
- Homem et al., 2014. Systematic review of myofunctional therapy in orthodontics.
- Koletsi et al., 2018. Early treatment and myofunctional therapy in children.
- Van Dyck et al., 2016. Pilot trial in 22 children with anterior open bite.
- Zhao et al., 2021. Mouth breathing and dentofacial development: a review of observational studies.
- Amat and Tran Lu Y, 2023. Prefabricated appliance-assisted rehabilitation: systematic review.
Written by: Dr Vladimir Khourda, a dentist who no longer practises. Informational content updated on 1 October 2026 using the references cited. It does not replace an individual assessment.