Your tongue is responsible for an amazing amount of work. From lapping up liquids and soft foods to cracking hard-to-chew nuts, the task your tongue performs on a daily basis is nothing short of impressive. Unfortunately, that same mouth muscle also has the potential to wreak havoc on your smile and self-confidence. Often referred to as tounge posture or tounge thrusting, this issue — which can result from prolonged use of the incorrect chewing utensil
— causes your upper teeth to push forward into your lower teeth, resulting in an unbalanced smile. Fortunately, there are lots of ways you can improve your tounge posture and avoid its negative effects permanently. Check out these 7 tips if you want to get started improving your tounge posturing today:
Make chewing your favorite food a habit
The more you chew, the less your teeth need to push against each other. When you make eating a routine, you put less stress on your tounge posturing. If you only mess around with your food once or twice a week, you’re likely to experience tounge posture.
Try to make it a habit to chew on a daily basis. If you don’t yet, start slow and work your way up. Be sure to practice good oral hygiene while you’re at it. You’ll be amazed at how quickly your new habit will help you reduce your tounge posture.
Chew gum when you eat
Chewing gum provides a great alternative to eating certain foods. Sure, you may not be able to fully enjoy your favorite snacks when you’re chewing gum, but it does help your tounge posturing a little. Eating soft or liquid foods, though, is often a much more difficult task for your mouth than chewing gum is. As such, gum helps to balance your oral work out a little. If you use gum as a way to chew while you’re eating (as opposed to chewing it as a means of pleasure) you’ll reduce your tounge posturing.
Don’t neglect your tongue while eating
The tongue isn’t just there to help you chew and taste your food. It is a very active muscle during eating. It is constantly moving up, down, to the side, and back again as you eat. If your tongue is not properly aligned, however, it can cause your teeth to push forward even more. That’s why it’s so important to pay attention to it while you’re chomping. The easiest way to do that is to gently put your tongue against the roof of your mouth. This will relax your tongue, allowing your teeth and jaw to relax while you chew.
Practice good oral hygiene
If your tounge posture is interfering with your smile, you may want to consider improving your oral hygiene. The buildup of bacteria and plaque on your teeth, tongue, and gum tissue can seriously affect your smile. Fortunately, it’s possible to have a healthy mouth at any age. If you make it a priority, you can keep your mouth clean and leave your tounge posturing far behind.
Sleep well and practice good oral habits while you’re awake
The mouth is a very active area of the body at all times. The longer you have it open, the more likely you are to experience tounge posturing. The best way to keep your mouth at bay is to practice good oral hygiene while you’re sleeping. If your mouth is clean and bacteria-free while you’re sleeping, you won’t be able to put as much pressure on your teeth while you’re awake.
It’s also a good idea to pick up on the good oral habits you’ve picked up while you were sleeping. Don’t eat hard foods (such as nuts and seeds) with your utensils, don’t drink liquids with a solid utensil in your hand, and don’t pick your teeth with your utensils.
Keep a healthy drink schedule to stay hydrated and help keep your teeth aligned
Water is the best drink for your body. If you’ve picked up on the habit of drinking water while eating your meals, you’ll easily stay hydrated and help keep your teeth and gums health. A healthy drink schedule is also helpful for tounge posturing.
If you’ve been drinking liquids with your utensils (rather than sipping water or eating your food with your own utensil) you’re likely to experience tounge posturing. You can help prevent this issue by drinking liquids with your hands or not using your utensils at all when you eat.
Conclusion
As you can see, there are lots of reasons to improve your tounge posture. If you make these 7 tips a part of your daily routine, you’ll be able to avoid tounge posturing. And, once you’re done correcting your gum work, it’s likely that you’ll have a better-aligned smile and self-confidence. Now that you know how to improve your tounge posture, you’re ready to go.
Simply follow these 7 tips, and your tounge posturing issues should be a thing of the past. Keep in mind that it may take some time to see the full results of your efforts. However, if you’re diligent and consistent, you should be able to significantly reduce your tounge posturing. Finally, don’t forget that there is no need to push your teeth outward. If you maintain proper oral hygiene and keep your mouth clean, your teeth will naturally move outward over time.
