Objective: The purpose of this investigation was to assess the potential for young children to increase their oral intake of food and liquids, as measured in ounces, when an oral brushing routine was paired with traditional feeding intervention. Method: This multiple baselines across participants investigation included three children, two boys 4 years of age and one boy 7 years of age. All participants had a history significant for prematurity and a diagnosis of oral feeding aversion. Previously conducted swallow instrumentation reports were used to determine cadidacy for participation and to establish safe consistencies for the feeding tasks. Outcomes were investigated under two conditions: 1) Baseline phase – traditional feeding intervention with oral feeding tasks, and 2) Intervention phase – an oral brushing task performed immediately prior to traditional feeding intervention with oral feeding tasks. The United States Department of Agriculture’s MyPlate food guide was used to determine criterion levels. Results: All three participants weaned from tube-feeding and either maintained or gained weight during the investigation. Of note, all participants had poor oral care at baseline, which improved daily oral care during and immediately post-intervention. While all children increased the volume and variety of orally accepted food, changes in volume were not statistically significant. Conclusion: Ongoing investigation is needed to explore interventions that can assist in increasing oral intake in children who have feeding aversion and a history of prematurity.
