This study aimed to find out the effect of the oral sensory · motor training on oral motor function, chewing and drooling in children with cerebral palsy; three children(A, B, C) of cerebral palsy with 2 - 4 years of age, who were selected through or...
This study aimed to find out the effect of the oral sensory · motor training on oral motor function, chewing and drooling in children with cerebral palsy; three children(A, B, C) of cerebral palsy with 2 - 4 years of age, who were selected through oral motor function tests, were given the training of oral sensory · motor training (touching stimulus on oral - facial, chewing movement with tongue, lips and jaws) for 30 periods of time, and the time needed for 1 period was 20 minutes.
The conclusions that go after the results obtained through the procedures in the above are like the following.
First, the oral sensory · motor training has had affirmative effects on the oral motor function of the children with cerebral palsy.
When seeing the subordinate realms, before the oral sensory · motor training, there were abnormal muscle tone, reflective movement or no response toward food at all; however, after the training, enhancement in controls of jaws, lips and tongue led to another progress in performing functions of jaw closing, lip closing, decrease of the amounts and frequency of food loss when swallowing food, and the chewing has been progressed up to a functional movement.
Second, the oral sensory · motor training has had affirmative effect on the chewing frequency enhancement of the children with cerebral palsy.
In chewing, the testee children did not have any response to the food but had tonic bite reflex action, and that caused depreciation in chewing; but since the training, chewing frequency has been increased by the enhancements of the controls of the tongue and jaws, even though there were differences in chewing frequency according to the qualities of the food.
Before the training, the child A showed 1 chewing when cookies were given; but after the training, the frequency was increased to 23 times; in case of jelly, he showed 43 times of chewing, the highest enhancement; in case of B and C, chewing cookies showed the enhancement of chewing frequency; but in case of jelly, there was little change.
Third, the oral sensory · motor training has had affirmative effects on decreasing the amount and frequency of drooling of the children with cerebral palsy.
The amount and frequency of the drooling were decreased because of the enhancement of the control of the lips and jaws and swallowing.
The testee children continuously salivated before the training; after the training, the child A showed no more salivation and he could control the salivation by verbal instruction; in case of the child C and B, the amount and the frequency of drooling were decreased to the least degree as to wetting lips only.