Part 1: Understanding Oral Motor Skills and Their Importance

Maria Panagitopoulos, M.S., CF-SLP and Lydia Stimpson, M.S., CCC-SLP

Oral motor skills refer to the movement and coordination of the muscles in the mouth, lips, tongue, and jaw. These skills are essential for speech, feeding, and overall oral function. Weak or uncoordinated oral motor muscles can lead to difficulties with eating, speaking, and even breathing.

Why Are Oral Motor Skills Important?

• Speech Development: Proper lip, tongue, and jaw movement is essential for clear articulation.
• Feeding and Swallowing: Strong oral muscles aid in chewing and safely swallowing food.
• Social and Emotional Development: Being able to communicate effectively boosts confidence and interaction with others.
• Sleep: Tongue and lip control play a key role for stable airway and can impact quality sleep.

Signs of Oral Motor Weakness

• Difficulty pronouncing certain sounds
• Drooling or trouble keeping lips closed
• Struggles with chewing or swallowing food (choking/gagging on food, messy eating, picky eating, food left in the mouth, food falling out of mouth, and low food intake).
• Lack of control over tongue movements

Signs of Tongue Ties and Lip Ties

• Tongue-tie (ankyloglossia) is where the tongue is too tightly attached/connected to the floor of the mouth and has limited movement. Lip ties are a condition where the upper lip is too tightly attached to the upper jaw and gums.
• Speech issues: When the tongue and lip is restrained, it may cause difficulty forming sounds and words. Some people may be able to compensate, but not everyone.
• Crowded teeth/ Overbite: When the tongue has proper mobility, it will rest on the roof of the mouth and presses upward with each swallow. This helps the mouth grow laterally and creates adequate space for all adult teeth.  When a tongue tie is involved, the tongue is unable to rest on the roof of the mouth, causing the mouth (upper palate) to grow at its normal width.
• TMJ, Chronic headache, and Neck pain: Our tongue is connected to so many muscles throughout the head and neck. Having a tongue tie can interfere and may throw other muscles off balance.
• Breathing: With the tongue tied down and lower back jaw set, the base of the tongue in the throat can interfere with breathing.
• Infants and Solid Food: Can cause difficulty when eating solid foods. Some children and adults with tongue-ties may gag on solid foods and are unable to chew properly/
• Oral Hygiene: Our tongue is designed to move food around and allow proper chewing. Our tongue can also clean food off our teeth.  With a tongue tie, foods may get stuck in the corners of the mouth.
• Breast Feeding: Infants with tongue or lip ties can have difficulty maintaining a seal. Therefore it makes it challenging for them to obtain enough milk.

In the pat 2 of this blog series, we will explore specific exercises that can help develop oral motor strength and coordination. If you have questions about your child’s development, our team is here to help. Request an appointment online to speak with a pediatric speech therapist.