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Week 3

Exercise 1 - Resting Position
Duration: Any time you are at rest (not talking or eating)
Frequency: All day for 7 days

  1. The Spot: Put the tip of your tongue on the bumpy spot behind your top front teeth (the alveolar ridge).
  2. Bite Down: Bite down on your back teeth.
  3. Close Lips: Gently close your lips.

Tips for this exercise:

  1. You should be working on maintaining a correct resting position at all times during the week. Any time you are not talking or eating, your tongue, teeth, and lips should remain in the resting position. At the end of each day you should track how well you maintained the resting position. Write an "A" for "all" on the tracking sheet if you maintained the correct resting position at all times during the day. Write a "P" for "part" on the tracking sheet if you maintained the correct resting position for part of the day. Write an "N" for "none" on the tracking sheet if you did not maintain the correct resting position at all that day.

Exercise 2 - Tongue Tip Taps
Duration: 30 seconds
Frequency: 3 times a day for 7 days

  1. Relax: Let your tongue relax on the floor of your mouth, inside your bottom teeth.
  2. Touch: Hold a tongue depressor straight up and down touching the tip of your tongue.
  3. Tap: Tap the tip of your tongue with the tongue depressor for 30 seconds.

Tips for this exercise:

  1. Look at your tongue in a mirror during the entire exercise.
  2. Make sure you hold the tongue depressor vertically & not horizontally.
  3. Keep your tongue as relaxed as possible during the entire 30 seconds.

Exercise 3 - Tongue Pull Backs
Duration: 20 times
Frequency: 3 times a day for 7 days

  1. Tongue Out: Stick your tongue way out of your mouth.
  2. Tongue Lift: While sticking your tongue out – curl the tip up slightly and lift the sides and bottom of your tongue up off of the bottom of your mouth, teeth, and lips.
  3. Pull Back: Slowly pull your tongue back into your mouth – keeping it skinny as you pull it back.
  4. The Spot: After you have pulled your tongue into your mouth, lift the tip of your tongue up to “the spot” (the bumpy spot behind your top front teeth).
  5. Bite: Slowly bite down your back teeth – keeping your tongue tip on “the spot” and your tongue narrow as you bite.

Tips for this exercise:

  1. Look at your tongue in a mirror during the entire exercise.
  2. Make sure to hold your tongue up off of your bottom lips and teeth as much as possible during the entire exercise.
  3. If you have a hard time lifting your tongue out and up, try holding the tongue depressor out in front of your mouth and bringing the tip of your tongue out to touch it.
  4. As you complete the pull back – make sure your tongue is being pulled straight back using the back muscles in your tongue – don’t just curl the tip back to bring your tongue into your mouth.

Exercise 4 - Straw Swallows
Duration: 15 times (5 times with a straw, 5 times without a straw, and 5 times with a straw again)
Frequency: 3 times a day for 7 days

Straw Swallows With Straw

  1. The Spot: Put the tip of your tongue on the bumpy spot behind your top front teeth (the alveolar ridge).
  2. Straw: Place a straw horizontally directly behind your top front teeth and bite down. Do not let your tongue touch any part of the straw.
  3. Smile: Spread your lips into a wide smile and hold them there for the remainder of the exercise (even during the swallow).
  4. Suck Up: Suck your tongue against the roof of your mouth.
  5. Squirt: Using a squirt bottle, spray a few squirts of water into both corners of your mouth.
  6. Slurp: Slurp the water back hard (keeping your mouth in a smile)
  7. Swallow: Swallow the water keeping your tongue tip on “the spot”, the rest of your tongue against the roof of your mouth, and your lips spread wide in a smile.
  8. Repeat: Repeat these steps 5 times with the straw, 5 times without the straw, and then 5 times again with the straw.

Straw Swallows (Without Straw)

  1. The Spot: Put the tip of your tongue on the bumpy spot behind your top front teeth (the alveolar ridge).
  2. Smile: Spread your lips into a wide smile and hold them there for the remainder of the exercise (even during the swallow).
  3. Suck Up: Suck your tongue against the roof of your mouth.
  4. Squirt: Using a squirt bottle, spray a few squirts of water into both corners of your mouth.
  5. Slurp: Slurp the water back hard (keeping your mouth in a smile)
  6. Swallow: Swallow the water keeping your tongue tip on “the spot”, the rest of your tongue against the roof of your mouth, and your lips spread wide in a smile.
  7. Repeat: Repeat these steps 5 times with the straw, 5 times without the straw, and then 5 times again with the straw.

Tips for this exercise:

  1. Look at your tongue in a mirror during the entire exercise.
  2. While swallowing your tongue should not push against the straw or your teeth. Your tongue should not push forward at all.
  3. Once you begin the swallow repetitions make sure to keep your mouth in a smile the entire time. Closing your lips between repetitions can result in quick and thrusted swallows that will end up ultimately un-doing all the work you have completed toward a new correct swallow pattern.