Orofacial Function in Growing Children: Background, Assessment, and Management Across Seven Domains—MBTL-GPS

Pediatric orofacial function is typically evaluated through clinical observation, caregiver reports, and device-based measurements when available. Without an organized framework, findings recorded by different examiners remain difficult to compare across visits or between clinicians. This review introduces a clinically available framework covering seven domains: mastication, breathing, tongue, lip, growth, posture, and swallowing (MBTL-GPS). Distinct from established instruments such as the protocol of Orofacial Myofunctional Evaluation with Scores (OMES) and the Nordic Orofacial Test-Screening (NOT-S), it incorporates physical growth and whole-body posture alongside intraoral findings, takes both airway and sleep into account, and quantifies occlusal force, tongue pressure, and lip closing strength on continuous scales. Each domain is detailed through its clinical and developmental background, specific assessment items, and relevant management. MBTL-GPS provides a standardized format for recording orofacial function at the chairside. It is a structured clinical workflow and not a validated diagnostic test. Its reliability has not yet been established, it does not provide an overall score, and reference values for several parameters derive from specific national cohorts. Whether the record is comparable between clinicians has not been tested. Determining inter-examiner and intra-examiner reliability is the next step.