What Are Bite Blocks? A Therapist’s Guide to Jaw Grading

If a child struggles to chew efficiently, keep their lips closed, or speak clearly, the jaw is often the place a therapist looks first. The jaw is the foundation the lips and tongue work from — when it is unstable, everything built on top of it wobbles too. Bite blocks are one of the most widely used tools for training that foundation.

What is a bite block?

A bite block is a small, precisely sized block that a child bites and holds between the back teeth (the molars). Rather than chewing, the child practises sustained, gentle holds — an isometric exercise for the jaw, similar to holding a plank for core strength. The goal is not a stronger bite for its own sake, but a jaw that can hold steady positions symmetrically on both sides, and move between them with control.

How the Jaw Grading Bite Block hierarchy works

The TalkTools® Jaw Grading Bite Blocks™ are a clinician-designed hierarchy that trains jaw stability, symmetry and graded movement at progressive jaw heights. In practice, a therapy session follows a clear sequence:

1. Assessment — the therapist evaluates jaw alignment and stability and selects a starting position.
2. Placement — a block is placed on the molars, and the child is cued to bite and hold it gently.
3. Isometric holds — short, repeated holds build strength and control at that jaw height.
4. Progression — the hierarchy moves through progressive positions. The child advances only when holds are consistently stable and symmetrical on both sides — quality of movement decides progression, not a fixed timeline.
5. Generalisation — the new jaw control is carried over into real tasks: chewing food, drinking, and speech work.

Who are bite blocks for?

Therapists reach for bite blocks with children (and adults) whose jaw stability is not yet supporting daily function — commonly seen as:

• inefficient or one-sided chewing;
• difficulty keeping the lips closed at rest;
• a jaw that slides or juts sideways during speech or feeding;
• unclear speech linked to poor jaw control rather than sound knowledge.

They are used by speech-language pathologists and occupational therapists, and by parents at home under a therapist’s guidance. Bite blocks are part of a structured programme — which exercises, which positions, and how many repetitions should be set by a professional who has assessed the child.

Bite blocks within Oral Placement Therapy (OPT)

Bite blocks are a core tool in Oral Placement Therapy, the TalkTools approach that combines sensory input, movement and placement cues to build the motor skills that feeding and speech depend on. The bite block hierarchy is one strand of a jaw programme described in the TalkTools course A 3-Part Treatment Plan for OPT™ — a good starting point for therapists who want to use these tools within a full treatment framework.

Are bite blocks available in South Africa?

Yes. SpeechLab is the authorised TalkTools® distributor for Southern Africa, and we keep stock locally — no international shipping, customs or import duties on your side. You can order the Jaw Grading Bite Blocks™ directly from our shop, alongside the related Bite Tube Set used earlier in many jaw programmes.

This article is general information, not a treatment plan. Bite blocks should be used within a programme set up by a qualified speech-language or occupational therapist who has assessed the individual child.