Techniques & Approaches Flashcards

A therapist uses a tongue depressor to provide resistance while the patient pushes upward with the tongue tip. This is an example of:

Answer: Progressive resistive exercise for tongue elevation strength

Applying downward resistance with a tongue depressor while the patient pushes upward builds intrinsic and extrinsic tongue elevator strength.

Orofacial myofunctional therapy for a patient with sleep-disordered breathing most commonly targets which set of muscles to reduce airway collapsibility?

Answer: Tongue, soft palate, and pharyngeal dilator muscles

Toning the tongue, soft palate, and pharyngeal dilators increases upper airway muscle tone and reduces collapse during sleep.

Which motivational interviewing principle is most important when a pediatric patient resists home exercise compliance?

Answer: Rolling with resistance and eliciting the child's own reasons for change

Rolling with resistance avoids power struggles; helping the child articulate personal reasons for change increases intrinsic motivation and compliance.

A myofunctional therapist incorporates 'proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) stretching' techniques when treating a patient with limited tongue range of motion. The stretch-hold-contract-relax sequence is used to:

Answer: Increase muscle length by exploiting the Golgi tendon organ reflex

PNF contract-relax sequences activate the Golgi tendon organ inhibitory reflex, allowing greater muscle elongation after the contraction phase.

For a patient with a bilateral tongue thrust, the therapist differentiates between a 'simple' and 'complex' thrust pattern primarily by assessing:

Answer: Whether the thrust occurs only on liquids or also on solids and at rest

A complex thrust involves forward tongue positioning on solids and at rest in addition to liquids, requiring a more comprehensive treatment approach.

Which of the following best describes the 'roof massage' preparatory technique used before tongue elevation exercises?

Answer: Applying vibration to the hard palate with a toothbrush to sensitize the mucosa for tongue contact

Palatal sensitization via roof massage helps patients who are palatally hypersensitive tolerate and feel tongue-palate contact during therapeutic exercises.

When a myofunctional therapist uses the 'Hanson approach,' treatment progresses through which structured sequence?

Answer: Nasal breathing, lip seal, tongue rest posture, swallow correction

The Hanson method establishes nasal breathing and lip seal before addressing tongue rest posture and finally correcting the swallow pattern.