Castillo-Morales' orofacial therapy: treatment of 67 children with Down syndrome.

Infants with Down syndrome often present with a typical orofacial disorder, the features of which include hypotonicity of the perioral muscles, lips and chewing muscles, and a protruding tongue, later followed by active tongue protrusion, as well as problems with sucking, drooling, etc. This study presents the effects of Castillo-Morales' therapy with 67 Down syndrome children (average age at start of therapy 13.9 months), who wore the palatal plate intermittently for an average of 12.1 months. Significant positive results were obtained in spontaneous tongue position, upper and lower lip tonicity and position, mouth closure, drooling and sucking.

[Motor activity of the mouth and mouth therapy in cerebral palsy. Preliminary results in the treatment of neuromuscular disorders of the mouth in children with cerebral palsy using the Castillo-Morales concept]. / Zu Mundmotorik und Mundtherapie bei Zerebralparese. Vorläufige Ergebnisse der Behandlung von neuromotorischen Störungen im Mundbereich bei Kindern mit zerebraler Parese nach der Konzeption von Castillo-Morales.

56 patients suffering from connatal cerebral palsy were treated with removable orthodontic appliances possessing stimulation areas according to Castillo-Morales. The intention was to improve the well-known orofacial dysfunctions of these patients. The evaluation of a standard treatment schedule leads to the following statements: The tongue and lip control can be improved in many patients, as well as the chewing and swallowing pattern, the speech and the problem of saliva running out of the mouth. The resting-position of the tongue is normalized in some of the cases. The habit of an open mouth can hardly ever be improved. In a small number of patients some parameters of orofacial function worsened during treatment; in most of these cases, however, a general improvement of orofacial function justified further treatment with palatal plates.

[Early functional orthodontic treatment of orofacial developmental disorders in children with Down's syndrome]. / Die kieferorthopädische funktionelle Frühbehandlung der orofazialen Entwicklungsstörungen von Kindern mit Morbus Down.

Possibilities are indicated of early functional orthodontic treatment in babies and small children with Down's Syndrome with orofacial pathology.

[Successful treatment of idiopathic scoliosis in school children with Vojta's neuro-physiotherapy]. / Erfolgreiche Behandlung der idiopathischen Skoliose bei Schulkindern durch Neuro-Physiotherapie nach Vojta.

The article describes the treatment of two children with idiopathic scoliosis in the age of 10 and 14 years. After an unsuccessful orthopedic treatment, these children have been treated with the neurophysio-therapy according to Vojta.