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Background The aim of the study was to analyze the morphology and position of the tongue and hyoid bone in skeletal Class II patients with different vertical growth patterns by cone beam computed tomography in comparison to skeletal Class I patients. Methods Ninety subjects with malocclusion were divided into skeletal Class II and Class I groups by ANB angles. Based on different vertical growth patterns, subjects in each group were divided into 3 subgroups: high-angle group (MP-FH ≥ 32.0°), average-angle group (22.0° ≤ MP-FH t‐test was used to compare the position and morphology of the tongue and hyoid bone between skeletal Class I and Class II groups. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to compare the measurement indexes of different vertical facial patterns in each group. Results Patients in skeletal Class II group had lower tongue posture, and the tongue body was smaller than that of those in the Class I group (P P P P > 0.05). Conclusion Patients with skeletal Class II malocclusion have lower tongue posture, a smaller tongue body, and greater occurrence of posterior inferior hyoid bone position than skeletal Class I patients. The length of the mandibular body in skeletal Class I patients with a horizontal growth type is longer. The position and morphology of the tongue and hyoid bone were not greatly affected by vertical facial development in skeletal Class II patients.

Objectives: To investigate the relationship between head posture, hyoid bone, tongue position and lower incisor inclination. Materials and Methods: The study sample consisted of 98 subjects (35 males, 63 females), who had a mean age of 17.7 years in the permanent dentition and with a skeletal Class I relationship. Lower incisor inclination, craniovertical, craniocervical and craniohorizontal postural variables, tongue and hyoid position and airway measurements were evaluated on lateral cephalograms taken in natural head position. The study sample was divided into two groups according to lower incisor inclination (48 had IMPA90 ⁰ with a mean degree of 102.84) and a Student-t test was performed to compare and describe head posture, tongue and hyoid bone positions.Results: The subjects with upright incisors had a more posteriorly positioned hyoid bone relative to the mandibular symphysis compared with the subjects with flared incisors (p

The aim of this study was to pinpoint the cerebral regions implicated during swallowing by comparing the brain activation areas associated with two different volitional movements: tongue protrusion and tongue elevation. Twenty-four healthy subjects (11&mdash, males 22 &plusmn, 2.9 y, 13&mdash, females 23 &plusmn, 4.1 y, were examined through functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while performing two different swallowing tasks: with tongue protrusion and with tongue elevation. The study was carried out with the help of fMRI imaging which assesses brain signals caused by changes in neuronal activity in response to sensory, motor or cognitive tasks. The precentral gyrus and the cerebellum were activated during both swallowing tasks while the postcentral gyrus, thalamus, and superior parietal lobule could be identified as large activation foci only during the protrusion task. During protrusion tasks, increased activations were also seen in the left-middle and medial frontal gyrus, right thalamus, inferior parietal lobule, and the superior temporal gyrus (15,592-voxels, Z-score 5.49 &plusmn, 0.90). Tongue elevation activated a large volume of cortex portions within the left sub-gyral cortex and minor activations in both right and left inferior parietal lobules, right postcentral gyrus, lentiform nucleus, subcortical structures, the anterior cingulate, and left insular cortex (3601-voxels, Z-score 5.23 &plusmn, 0.52). However, the overall activation during swallowing tasks with tongue elevation, was significantly less than swallowing tasks with tongue protrusion. These results suggest that tongue protrusion (on inferior incisors) during swallowing activates a widely distributed network of cortical and subcortical areas than tongue elevation (on incisor papilla), suggesting a less economic and physiologically more complex movement. These neuromuscular patterns of the tongue confirm the different purpose of elevation and protrusion during swallowing and might help professionals manage malocclusions and orofacial myofunctional disorders.

Background Tongue posture plays an important role in the etiology of anterior open bite (AOB) and articulation disorders, and is crucial for AOB treatment planning and posttreatment stability. Clinical assessment of tongue posture in children is unreliable due to anatomical limitations. The aim of the study was to present functional diagnostics using three-dimensional ultrasound (3DUS) assessment of resting tongue posture in comparison to clinical assessment, and the associations between the improper tongue posture, otorhinolaryngological characteristics, and articulation disorders in preschool children with AOB. Patients and methods A cross-sectional study included 446 children, aged 3–7 years, 236 boys and 210 girls, examined by an orthodontist to detect the prevalence of AOB. The AOB was present in 32 children. The control group consisted of 43 children randomly selected from the participants with normocclusion. An orthodontist, an ear, nose and throat (ENT) specialist and a speech therapist assessed orofacial and ENT conditions, oral habits, and articulation disorders in the AOB group and control group. Tongue posture was also assessed by an experienced radiologist, using 3DUS. The 3DUS assessment of tongue posture was compared to the clinical assessment of orthodontist and ENT specialist. Results The prevalence of AOB was 7.2%. The AOB group and the control group significantly differed regarding improper tongue posture (p < 0.001), and articulation disorders (p < 0.001). In children without articulation disorders from both groups, the improper tongue posture occured less frequently than in children with articulation disorders (p < 0.001). After age adjustment, a statistical regression model showed that the children with the improper tongue posture had higher odds ratios for the presence of AOB (OR 14.63; p < 0.001) than the others. When articulation disorders were included in the model, these odds ratios for the AOB became insignificant (p = 0.177). There was a strong association between the improper tongue posture and articulation disorders (p = 0.002). The 3DUS detected the highest number of children with improper resting tongue posture, though there was no significant difference between the 3DUS and clinical assessments done by orthodontist and ENT specialist. Conclusions The 3DUS has proved to be an objective, non-invasive, radiation free method for the assessment of tongue posture and could become an important tool in functional diagnostics and early rehabilitation in preschool children with speech irregularities and irregular tongue posture and malocclusion in order to enable optimal conditions for articulation development.

A 45-year-old woman presented with an anterior open-bite complaining chiefly of her unpleasant smile esthetics and masticatory and speech problems. Treatment included speech therapy initiated immediately after bonding. Lingual spurs were positioned on the mandibular incisors in order to help tongue rehabilitation. During the working phase, temporary anchorage devices (TADs) were used at the mandibular anterior segment to intrude the lower left premolars. A splint was used to ensure retention in the upper and lower arches; an enveloppe linguale nocturne (ELN) was provided. Non-surgical open-bite treatment could offer a valid alternative to orthognanthic surgery when cephalometric evaluation shows no vertical growth pattern; patient compliance is essential to prevent relapse.

Twelve young adults in a good general health were observed during habitual posture of tongue and jaw in different emotional conditions induced by watching three video sequences. The position of the mandible was tracked by the displacements of an electromagnetic sensor glued to the chin. The tongue-to-palate distance was obtained by 2-D location of three electromagnetic sensors placed on the tongue upper midline surface. Head displacements were evaluated with a sensor fixed to an upper central incisor and were subtracted from corresponding displacements of tongue and chin sensors to obtain the real tongue and mandible positions during continuous recording sequences. Emotional conditioning by a fear movie influenced the vertical position of the mandible: the mean interarch distances during the fear movie (2 center dot 34 +/- 0 center dot 24mm) were significantly different from those measured during the tender (3 center dot 13 +/- 0 center dot 35) and neutral (3 center dot 42 +/- 0 center dot 80) movies, respectively (anova repeated measure, SNK; P