The nonsurgical treatment of microstomia in scleroderma: a pilot study.

A 6-month clinical trial with nine scleroderma patients compared two exercise programs for the nonsurgical treatment of the decreased oral opening ( microstomia ). The experimental group employed three mouth-stretching exercises and a new oral augmentation exercise, using tongue depressors , to obtain a 5.6 mm mean increased vertical oral opening. The controls used six currently recommended "facial grimacing " exercises for a 3.0 mm mean increase. When the controls used the experimental treatment, their mean improvement increased to 5.7 mm. Although surgical correction of microstomia may be warranted, some reversal of this condition may be achieved with the aid of this new nonsurgical exercise program.