I have been slow at responding to Janet's question on "bubble palate" because I had to correspond with her about her definition of the term. The question fascinates me because I am not sure I have seen a "bubble palate". I have seen a lot of high palates and palatal tori (next course) though. To show you the significance of a high palate, do this: Form a triangle using both hands - point the fingers up to form the sides of the triangle, and join the 2 thumbs together to form the base of the triangle. You have just made the shape of your nose. The volume inside the triangle is very important because the larger the space - the easier the flow of air through the nose. Now visualize your upper back teeth on the thumb joints next to your hands. The top side of your thumbs represents the floor of the nasal cavity - the bottom side of your thumbs represent the hard palate. To see what happens when you have a high palate - slowly raise your thumbs up to make that high palate. Does the volume inside the "nose" decrease? Add a nasal septum and turbinates and you can see how things can get very crowded in that a space. As you raise your thumbs higher - what happen to the teeth on your thumb joints - do they move inward? What you have just done is cause a restriction of airflow through the nasal cavity and have caused a mal-occlusion by moving the teeth inward and narrowing the upper arch. Janet shared that her husband has a chronically stuffy nose and a very high palate - can you see now why he does? I just made a slide for my presentation a couple of weeks ago to demonstrate this very thing. Dental and medical problem can develop from a high palate even if speech is not affected. Janet - anything that can be done to get the palate to a "normal" shape should be tried. I would be very interested in knowing more about the treatments the therapist uses to get from a high palate to a normal palate on an infant. If this can be done easily this could be a significant treatment modality break-through. The palate is soft and very malleable (moldable) in new born - and normally the action of the tongue during breastfeeding will mold the palate correctly. BUT - insert a harder latex/silicone artificial nipple and the palate NEVER has a chance to remold into a normal size palate. I would VERY MUCH like to hear more about the size and shape of palates in infants at birth from all of you. I am also interested in knowing more about tongue sizes in a new born also. The reason for different tongue sizes - other than genetics - is the only thing in the mouth that I have not been able to figure out. Tongue thrusts on adults can be seen by parting the lips slightly and having the person swallow. If the tongue comes out through "spaces" between any of the teeth - or if salivate oozes out between the teeth - either front or back - he/she has a tongue thrust swallow. Severe thruster have strong activity in their chin muscle and sometimes involves the muscle around the mouth. Nearly all thrusters have a form of mal-occlusion or damage to their teeth. I will cover this more during my presentation. Test question - if you understand the above - and have read the bibliographies on bed wetting that I have posted - can you see the possible correlation between bed wetting and high palate problems? More research needed here. Brian Palmer DDS, ILCA member and former Physical Education teacher - and husband to Shirley who is starting to beat me at golf because I am spending so much time on this computer! See you in KC!