IS THERE A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN BODY POSTURE AND TONGUE POSTURE? GLOSSO-POSTURAL SYNDROME BETWEEN MYTH AND REALITY

Introduction: Dysfunctional swallowing has been addressed by specialists of different extraction for over a quarter of a century: several publications describe the usefulness of myofunctional therapy and the negative effects of swallowing disorders at various functional domain such as: orthodontics, speech production, oto-rhino-laryngological, pediatric growth and development. Materials and methods: A total of 384 subjects in adolescence (198 males and 186 females, mean age 13.3 years, SD 2.1 years) underwent a stabilometric and postural examination, in order to identify the postural characteristics of the patient with dysfunctional swallowing. All participants completed the protocol assessment that included a dental occlusion evaluation and a swallowing function test with Payne technique. The aim of the present observational study is to verify the relationship between swallowing and posture in a population of adolescents and to describe the postural characteristics of the subjects with dysfunctional swallowing. Results: The results suggest a significant correlation between tongue position and body posture. This observational study allowed to define a specific nosography to describe the types of postural imbalance in individuals with dysfunctional deglutition, called Glosso-Postural Syndrome. Conclusion: Despite numerous publications where a relationship between lingual dysfunction and body posture is affirmed, the terms of this relationship and the types of postural imbalance were not accurately described. We therefore consider it appropriate to define a specific nosography to describe the types of postural imbalance in individuals with dysfunctional deglutition. We called this nosographic entity Glosso-Postural Syndrome. The most important traits of type I and type II glosso-postural syndrome are described.