The Small Muscle System Causing all the Drama

As parents, we spend a lot of time worrying about the big stuff.

Are they eating enough vegetables?

Are they getting enough sleep?

Why are there rocks in my washing machine again?

What most parents don't spend much time thinking about is their child's tongue.

A little girl sticking her tongue out

Which is a bit unfair, because the tongue isn't actually one muscle. It's a complex team of eight muscles working together as what's called a muscular hydrostat—basically nature's incredibly sophisticated, shape-shifting, movement-making machine.

And yet, this remarkable muscle system may be quietly influencing how your child breathes, sleeps, eats, speaks, and even how their face grows.

Rude, honestly.

An Orofacial Myofunctional Disorder (OMD) is a fancy clinical term for when the muscles of the mouth, face, and tongue aren't working together the way they were designed to. This might look like mouth breathing, open-mouth posture, tongue thrust swallowing, messy and/or picky eating, teeth-grinding, snoring, restless sleep, speech differences, or crowded teeth that seem determined to occupy the same square inch of space.

Imagine your child's tongue as a tiny personal trainer for their growing face. When it's resting where it should be—up in the roof of the mouth—it helps support healthy jaw development and nasal breathing. When it's hanging out on the floor of the mouth all day, things can start heading in a different direction.

And here's the tricky part: many of these habits become so normal that nobody thinks twice about them.

"Oh, he's always slept with his mouth open."

"She has always been a noisy sleeper."

"He'll grow out of it."

Maybe. Maybe not.

Sometimes these are clues that the mouth and airway need a little support.

The good news? Children's bodies are incredibly adaptable. When we identify OMDs early, we can often help improve breathing, eating, sleeping, speech, and oral habits while they're still growing.

So if your child snores, drools on their pillow like it's their full-time job, chews with their mouth open, always seems stuffed up, or has a tongue that likes to make surprise appearances between their teeth when they are talking (or it just sits there all the time), it may be worth taking a closer look.

Because sometimes these eight small muscles can lead to some very big orthodontic bills.

Before You Go

Your mission, should you choose to accept it: check your child's mouth while they're watching their favorite TV show or movie. Are their lips together? Is their tongue visible? Are they breathing through their nose?

Bonus points if they don't catch you staring.

— Kaylene