Drool control and tongue thrust therapy for the mentally retarded.

The evaluation and neurophysiologically based treatment for drooling and infantile tongue thrust found in adolescent, mentally retarded persons living in an institution is reported. Eleven residents were treated over a two-year-period. Evaluation was made of the specific oral dysfunctions thought to contribute to drooling, rather than the composite dysfunction of drooling, so that treatment could be definitive. Tongue immobility, including infantile tongue thrust, is the dysfunction most often seen. There has been some success in inhibiting infantile tongue thrust, resulting in improved ability to eat, as well as in decreased drooling.