Laser Tongue Tie surgery
Laser Tongue Tie Surgery | Twinsburg
Your child’s tongue and lips help them eat, speak, nurse, chew, and swallow. Also, their positioning and functioning impact your child’s ability to breathe optimally. In order for them to work as intended, though, they need their full range of motion. Tethered oral tissue, commonly known as tongue tie and/or lip tie, can prevent your child’s tongue and or lips from working fully. In such cases, a laser tongue tie surgery can help.
What is a Frenectomy?
A frenectomy is simply the release of connective tissue (called the frenum) from under the tongue or the upper gums. It is performed to correct conditions known as tongue-tie (ankyloglossia) and lip-tie in infants, children, and adolescents. Traditionally, this procedure was performed with a scalpel with the patient under general anesthesia. At Great Beginnings Pediatric Dentistry, however, we use a soft-tissue laser to perform frenectomies. Our laser tongue tie surgery option comes with many benefits.
Signs Your Child Needs a Tongue/Lip Tie Evaluation
A person may be born with a tongue-tie, lip-tie, or combination of the two. In both cases, the frenum is preventing either the tongue (tongue-tie) or the upper lip (lip-tie) from being able to move and function fully. You can easily see your frenum by looking in a mirror and lifting your tongue. The fibrous band of tissue under your tongue is your lingual frenum. Similarly, if you lift your upper lip, you’ll notice a similar band of tissue connecting your upper gums and lip. This one is your maxillary labial frenum.
Diagnosing a tongue and/or lip tie involves much more than a visual inspection of the tissue. How the tongue and lips function must be carefully evaluated. The signs and symptoms of tongue and/or lip tie in infants and children can surprise parents because they range from nursing difficulties to tip-toe walking. The wide range of symptoms often get overlooked by other professionals who are not trained in the mouth-overall health connection.
Signs of Tongue Tie in Infants
- Difficulting Latching/Staying Latched to Bottle or Breast
- Messy Feeding: Milk Dribbles Out, Pools at Mouth Corners, Excessive Spit Up
- Noisy Feeding: Popping Clicking Noises
- Fussy Feeding: Restless While Feeding, Fussy During and/or After Feeding
- Painful Feeding: Nursing Mother Feels Pain with Latching
Signs of Tongue Tie in Children
- Sleeping Issues: Restless Sleeper, Wakes Frequently, Groggy Even After Full Night's Sleep, Snoring
- Eating Issues: Very Picky Eating, Avoids Textures
- Oral Health Issues: Grinding Teeth, More Cavities Despite Good Brushing/Flossing Habits, Dry Mouth, Dry/Cracked Lips
- Speech Issues: Delayed Speech, Unclear Speech for Age
- Behavior Issues: Anxious without Cause, Poor Attention Span
During a laser tongue tie surgery, the dentist releases one or both of these bands of tissue to improve tongue and/or lip function. Only a trained professional can assess your child’s frenum for tongue and/or lip-tie. Dr. Rachel and Dr. Laura perform a comprehensive set of observations and assessments in order to determine whether or not a child may benefit from laser tongue tie surgery. They perform these non-invasive tests in our Twinsburg pediatric dental office, and they take 30-40 minutes to complete. Your child or infant does not require any sedation during the assessment period and a recommendation from another health care professional is not required.
The Benefits of Laser Tongue Tie Surgery
Not all tongue and/or lip ties require surgery. Some children can treat their tethered oral tissue with Myofunctional Therapy and other body work. If your child's tongue/lip tie require surgery, we offer the latest in laser tongue tie surgery. Our Solea laser’s pinpoint accuracy and immediate cauterization of tissue provides many benefits to patients, including the following:
- NO general anesthesia needed
- NO stitches required
- Very fast (2-3 minutes!)
- Minimal bleeding
- High success rate
- Minimal post-op pain or swelling for most infants
- Low chance of tissue re-attachment with follow-up exercises
Consequences of Leaving Tongue-Tie Untreated
If left untreated, a lip tie or tongue tie can have long-lasting consequences for your child. Even if your child did not have symptoms as an infant, their tongue and/or lip tie can be serious enough to result in the following:
- Behavioral issues
- Speech development difficulties
- Increased occurrences of tooth decay
- Food aversions
- Digestive issues
- Anxiety
- Sleep difficulties
- Teeth spacing issues
- Face elongation
- Lower jaw recession
- Upper jaw protrusion
- Weakened immune system
Get Answers to Your Laser Tongue Tie Surgery Questions
If you’re wondering if your child can benefit from lip-tie and/or tongue tie assessment call and schedule a visit today. Both of our pediatric dentists are currently accepting new patients age 16 years and younger. Dr. Rachel Rosen and Dr. Laura Adelman also welcome patients whose pediatricians or speech therapists have recommended laser tongue tie surgery or further evaluation, but no recommendation is necessary. Call our office today at (330) 425-1885 to schedule your child’s assessment.
