Tethered Oral Tissues (TOTs) involve the restriction of the frena or frenulum—small folds of tissue that connect bone to tissue. While respected protocols exist for structural assessment, this course addresses the need for a detailed functional assessment that looks at the impact of TOTs on oral motor, feeding, and speech skills.
Lori and Robyn provide a "Task Analysis" of a TOTs assessment, utilizing specialized case history forms for infants, children, and adults. These forms are designed to reveal developmental and medical histories that serve as red flags for both structural and functional issues.
Participants will be guided through craniofacial and structural assessments, learning which tools and cues are most effective. The course then transitions to functional markers of TOTs during feeding (breast, bottle, cup, spoon, solid, and straw) and identifies speech clarity errors typically associated with these restrictions. The session concludes with a look at ethics, scope of practice, and the creation of a "TOTs Team."
- List at least 2 assessment protocols for TOTs.
- Identify at least 3 ways in which TOTs can impact feeding and/or speech.
- Describe at least 3 techniques to assess structural and/or functional implications of TOTs.
