What is proper tongue posture?

Proper tongue posture involves the placement and resting position of your tongue in your mouth. And, as it turns out, proper tongue posture may be more important than you might think. The ideal position for your tongue is pressed against the roof of your mouth rather than letting it “settle” at the bottom of your mouth. You don’t want your tongue to press against the backs of your teeth either, as this may cause problems with your teeth alignment over time.
“Your tongue should be touching the roof of your mouth when resting,” explains Dr. Ron Baise, dentist of 92 Dental in London. “It should not be touching the bottom of your mouth. The front tip of your tongue should be about half an inch higher than your front teeth.” Plus, resting your tongue against your hard palate — the roof of your mouth behind your front teeth — does potentially offer some benefits.
 

Why correct tongue resting position is important 

While your tongue posture might not seem incredibly relevant to your overall health and well-being, there are a few benefits to learning the correct tongue resting position.
“The potential benefits of good tongue posture include a likelihood to have better aligned teeth as poor tongue posture can put your tongue in the way of growing teeth,” Baise says. “This can negatively affect the way they grow by blocking the space that they grow into.”  Plus, improper tongue posture can lead to a narrower palate over time. Studies suggest that simply widening the palate can have a positive effect on the upper airway, especially in children and young adults, improved tongue posture, and even reduced nasal obstruction in children with sleep apnea.
 

Can tongue posture affect cheekbones and facial structure?

While tongue posture may have an impact on your cheekbones and facial structure, it appears to be more of a preventive measure.  How does this work? Baise explains that the narrowing of the palate that comes from improper tongue posture can reduce the amount of support for your jaw and cheekbones. As a result, your chin and cheekbones may become less prominent over time.  There’s no significant research into whether proper tongue posture can cause the reverse effect — widening the palate or changing facial structure as an adult.  Some people may advocate mewing, which is the practice of maintaining proper tongue posture in an attempt to create a wider palate. There are no studies that support this practice.
 

Signs your tongue posture is causing problems

Regardless of whether proper tongue posture has any impact on your cheekbones or face shape, it’s clear that improper tongue posture does have the potential to create a few problems.  “This can negatively affect the way they grow by blocking the space that they grow into,” Baise says. “The most common of these is an open bite where your front teeth do not close properly at rest. This is caused by constant pressure on the back of your front teeth by your tongue.”

Poor tongue posture can also lead to problems including:

• speech impediments
• snoring and sleep apnea
• tooth grinding
• tongue thrust
• mouth breathing

Both tongue thrust and mouth breathing have the potential to lead to other health problems as well. Tongue thrust can lead to misaligned teeth and issues involving speech.
Mouth breathing, on the other hand, may cause halitosis, and a higher likelihood of developing sleep disorders and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).