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International Journal of Orofacial Myology and Myofunctional Therapy is published by MDPI from Volume 51 Issue 1 (2025). Previous articles were published by another publisher in Open Access under a CC-BY (or CC-BY-NC-ND) licence, and they are hosted by MDPI on mdpi.com as a courtesy and upon agreement with the previous journal publisher.
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Article

Tongue Strength and Swallowing-Related Masseter Activity and Oropharyngeal Timing Across the Lifespan

by
Alicia Martin-Cowger
1,
Dianna Evers
1,
Christy Osterhout
1,
Katie Small
1,
Shelly Ashbocker
1,
Eric Astel
1,
Rebecca Burke
2,
Natalie Dahl
1,
Rebecca Fish
1,
Jeanette Fountain
1,
Sandra Frickey
1,
Elizabeth Holbrook
1,
Carmen Ives
1,
Cassie Dallaserra
1,
Leigha Juravich
1,
Savannah Leckington
1,
Ashley Purser
1,
Heather Randolph
1,
Catherine Reed
1,
David Ross
1,
Kristine Sedlezky
1,
Chad Seibold
1,
Erin Sholes
1,
Amanda Sisneros
1,
Blake Tanner
1,
Casey Ulrich
1,
Joni Grey Loftin
3 and
Anthony Seikel
4add Show full author list remove Hide full author list
1
Idaho State University, Pocatello, ID 83209, USA
2
University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68588, USA
3
University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208, USA
4
University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045, USA
Int. J. Orofac. Myol. Myofunct. Ther. 2024, 50(1), 1-36; https://doi.org/10.52010/ijom.2024.50.1.3
Submission received: 20 December 2023 / Revised: 17 January 2024 / Accepted: 24 July 2024 / Published: 28 August 2024

Abstract

Purpose: This study examined lifespan changes in maximum tongue strength, swallowing time, and masseter activity during swallowing. It provides normative data with which to compare clinical assessments of orofacial myofunctional disorders (OMD) and oropharyngeal dysphagia (OPD). Method: 409 healthy participants without identified OMD or OPD (ages 5–79 years) provided instrumental measures of tongue strength and electromyographic measurements for oropharyngeal transit time and masseter activity during swallows of four boluses. Participants were placed in three broad age groups (5–15, 16–59, 60–79) for cross-sectional analysis. Results: Differences were found between age groups for tongue strength, such that the youngest group had significantly lower anterior tongue strength than the other groups, and lower posterior tongue strength than the 16–59 age group. Anterior tongue strength was significantly greater for males than females; posterior tongue strength did not differ significantly between the sexes. The youngest group had longer oropharyngeal transit times than either of the two older groups for most boluses. Swallowing transit time decreased in duration across the age groups, from youngest to oldest, for the 2.5 cc pudding bolus. Both right and left masseters differed in activation among tasks and age groups. The oldest age group had consistently greater levels of activation of the right masseter, and all groups had greater activation for the cracker bolus. Spearman rank-order correlations largely confirmed the inferential statistics and provided evidence of a relationship between tongue weakness and increased oropharyngeal transit time. Conclusion: Maximum tongue pressure generation and oropharyngeal timing measures support a developmental hypothesis, with lower tongue strength and longer swallowing transit times for children ages 5 through 15. The smaller pudding bolus provided the greatest differentiation among the age groups, which may prove to be a functional indicator for clinical evaluation. These results are largely consistent with existing data for tongue strength and oropharyngeal swallowing transit times.
Keywords: orofacial myology assessment; tongue strength; swallowing; normative data; age differences; sex differences; clinical assessment orofacial myology assessment; tongue strength; swallowing; normative data; age differences; sex differences; clinical assessment

Share and Cite

MDPI and ACS Style

Martin-Cowger, A.; Evers, D.; Osterhout, C.; Small, K.; Ashbocker, S.; Astel, E.; Burke, R.; Dahl, N.; Fish, R.; Fountain, J.; et al. Tongue Strength and Swallowing-Related Masseter Activity and Oropharyngeal Timing Across the Lifespan. Int. J. Orofac. Myol. Myofunct. Ther. 2024, 50, 1-36. https://doi.org/10.52010/ijom.2024.50.1.3

AMA Style

Martin-Cowger A, Evers D, Osterhout C, Small K, Ashbocker S, Astel E, Burke R, Dahl N, Fish R, Fountain J, et al. Tongue Strength and Swallowing-Related Masseter Activity and Oropharyngeal Timing Across the Lifespan. International Journal of Orofacial Myology and Myofunctional Therapy. 2024; 50(1):1-36. https://doi.org/10.52010/ijom.2024.50.1.3

Chicago/Turabian Style

Martin-Cowger, Alicia, Dianna Evers, Christy Osterhout, Katie Small, Shelly Ashbocker, Eric Astel, Rebecca Burke, Natalie Dahl, Rebecca Fish, Jeanette Fountain, and et al. 2024. "Tongue Strength and Swallowing-Related Masseter Activity and Oropharyngeal Timing Across the Lifespan" International Journal of Orofacial Myology and Myofunctional Therapy 50, no. 1: 1-36. https://doi.org/10.52010/ijom.2024.50.1.3

APA Style

Martin-Cowger, A., Evers, D., Osterhout, C., Small, K., Ashbocker, S., Astel, E., Burke, R., Dahl, N., Fish, R., Fountain, J., Frickey, S., Holbrook, E., Ives, C., Dallaserra, C., Juravich, L., Leckington, S., Purser, A., Randolph, H., Reed, C., ... Seikel, A. (2024). Tongue Strength and Swallowing-Related Masseter Activity and Oropharyngeal Timing Across the Lifespan. International Journal of Orofacial Myology and Myofunctional Therapy, 50(1), 1-36. https://doi.org/10.52010/ijom.2024.50.1.3

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