The Castillo-Morales Approach to Orofacial Pathology in Down Syndrome

Infants with Down syndrome often present with a familiar orofacial disorder which exists at birth or becomes more pronounced by the end of the first year. The primary pathology includes hypotonicity of the perioral muscles, lips, and masticatory muscles and a protruding tongue, later followed by active tongue protrusion. This results in problems with sucking, swallowing, drooling and dentition. Early intervention methods employing the combination of Castillo-Morales Manual Orofacial Therapy and his specially designed palatal plate, can improve orofacial function, facial appearance and prevent secondary conditions like pseudoprognathism, dental diseases, malocclusions, open mouth habit and pseudomacroglossia. This retrospective study examines the outcome of therapy, as prescribed by Castillo-Morales, in 39 children with Down syndrome. Normally, the average age to begin oral therapy is between six to eight months. The children were treated with the Castillo-Morales Manual Orofacial Therapy and his palatal plate for an average of 17.9 months. In this study, clinical evaluations at the beginning and the end of therapy focused only on open mouth posture and tongue protrusion. In addition, the direct stimulating effect of the palatal plate on tongue protrusion was evaluated. Significant positive results were observed in all three areas.