Tongue skills and clearance of toffee in two age-groups and in children with problems of speech articulation.

If children use the same tongue skills in swallowing and clearing remnants of sticky foods from the mouth as they do in articulating during speech, it could then be hypothesized that those with impaired articulation might have poorer tongue skills and, consequently, slower rates of food clearance. Does age alter these skills and rates of clearance? Measurements were made of oral stereognosis, tongue-tip manipulation skill, control of tongue protrusion, and the time taken to chew and swallow a standardized piece of toffee and to clear it from the mouth. A statistically significant improvement in tongue skills with age was observed when results for twenty-three 19- to 23-year-old students were compared with those for twenty-nine 6 to 11-year-old children, but no distant differences in clearance rates were noted. Results for thirty-nine 5- to 8-year old children with impaired articulation and forty normal age-matched children showed the former group to have delayed chewing times and clearance rates, and poorer oral stereognosis and tongue protrusion control. Although these tests have shown significant differences between relatively large groups, the value of such tests on individuals is limited.