Tongue thrust: a point of view.

The purpose of the present paper is to present evidence to support the following hypotheses: (1) there is a relationship between tongue thrust and malocclusion, and it is probably a reciprocal one; (2) tongue thrust may yield spontaneously to non-thrusting patterns; (3) if tongue thrust does not yield spontaneously to nonthrusting patterns, some form of treatment should be considered; (4) if myofunctional therapy is the treatment of choice, its timing with respect to patient age, developmental factors, and orthodontic treatment should be an individual matter. The need for more definitive research is described. In order for such research to be meaningful, a standard definition of tongue thrust is required. Such a definition is proposed.