Response provided by Dr. Robert M. Mason, DMD, PhD about more normal appearance of tongue

Response provided by Dr. Robert M. Mason, DMD, PhD Q: Dr. Mason, in your text you say, “Once muscles have been trained through treatment, a tongue that seemed definitely large has assumed a much more normal appearance”.  Can you explain this please? A: Yes, you will recall how the hyoid bone drops down and the tongue can accommodate to changes in the horizontal or vertical dimensions of the oral cavity by adapting vertically. This is more logical than adapting by moving horizontally (back) and reducing the size of the airway. This dropping down maneuver of the tongue was identified in an article by Wickwire, White and Proffit, J. Oral Surgery.  That study was of patients who had a surgical setback of the mandible. Afterward, the previously large tongues appeared smaller as they adapted to the space available. The adaptation is usually seen in the vertical dimension, with the base of the tongue dropping down. The hyoid is a good marker, as it also is in collapsibility studies of sleep apnea patients.  By contrast, what some people claim that the tongue falls back horizontally and blocks the pharynx following orthodontic extractions, and then leads to sleep apnea problems. That is not a valid statement and there is no research support