IJSR International Journal of Scientific Research 2277 - 8179 Indian Society for Health and Advanced Research ijsr-6-6-11144 Original Research Paper Effect of oral motor therapy and behavior therapy for controlling drooling in children with cerebral palsy: A comparative study Sethy Dr. June 2017 6 6 01 02 ABSTRACT

 Drooling or sialorrhoea is the unintentional loss of saliva and other oral–contents from mouth. It is a common problem seen in as many as 10% to 13.7% of children with cerebral palsy (Ekedahl 1974; Makhani 1974). It is a normal phenomenon of infancy that subsides in early childhood, usually by 15 – 18 months of age. Occasional drooling may persist in the neurologically intact child throughout the preschool year, but drooling during wakefulness beyond 3 or 4 years of age is considered abnormal (Crysdale 1989).  It may occur due to dysfunctional voluntary oral–motor activity, abnormal swallowing (Ekedahl, Manson, Sandberg, 1974), abnormal posture of jaws, lips and tongue (Scherzer & Tscharnuter 1982). There appears to be consensus, after cineradiographic studies that drooling in children with cerebral palsy is primarily due to oral–motor dysfunction and not by hyper salivation (Wilkie 1967; Ekedahl 1974; Vandey Heying et al. 1980).