Relationship between perception of tongue position and measures of tongue force on the teeth.

Purpose: To verify whether there are differences of tongue force on the teeth at rest and during swallowing between individuals who report appropriate tongue position and those who report tongue thrust.

Methods: Tongue forces on the teeth were evaluated in 28 participants aged 19 to 31 years. To this end, a Flexiforce® resistive sensor was fixed to the palatal surface of the maxillary right central incisor (tooth 8) and was connected to an amplifier circuit, a data acquisition board, and a computer. Measurements were taken at rest and during saliva swallowing. Participants were asked about their habitual tongue position and where the apex of tongue touched when they swallowed. The Mann Whitney test was used for statistical analysis at 5% significance level.

Results: At habitual position, tongue force on the teeth was 0.00 N both for participants that reported tongue touch and for those who did not. At directed swallowing, tongue force was 0.34 N for the group of individuals whose tongues touch the teeth and 0.08 N for the group of individuals whose tongues do not touch the teeth. This difference was significant.

Conclusion: No significant difference was found between the tongue forces of participants of both groups at habitual position. However, participants with tongue thrust during directed swallowing presented greater force than those whose tongues do not touch the teeth during this task.