Lips ties, tongue ties, or sometimes both occur in approximately 10% of infants. These conditions restrict the baby’s tongue movement and often negatively affect their ability to nurse or bottle-feed. Laser dentistry allows us to correct tongue and lip ties quickly, accurately, and comfortably.
It is important to note that not all lip ties and tongue ties cause problems or even require treatment. Our qualified staff members will perform a thorough examination to determine a diagnosis based on function and range of motion rather than appearance.
A lip-tie is caused by a short superior labial frenum (the tissue that attaches the upper gums to the top lip).
This condition limits the patient’s lip range of motion and can potentially cause:
A tongue-tie is when the lingual frenulum (the tissue that connects the tongue to the bottom of your mouth) is small or tight. Depending on the severity of the tongue-tie, this condition can affect the way a child speaks, eats, and swallows. In addition, short frenulums can cause issues in the jaw and dental development, breathing issues, and digestive problems.
Children with lip or tongue ties often also have reflux problems which can be very painful. If a tight frenulum is negatively impacting the infant's eating habits or is causing the mother pain while breastfeeding, a laser frenectomy will likely be recommended. Although even if the child feeds without struggle and the mother isn’t experiencing pain, a frenectomy may still be recommended to prevent issues with oral development, swallowing solid food, cavities, teeth spacing, breathing, sleep, posture, TMD, reflux, and headaches.
Benefits of Laser Tongue-Tie Surgery:
A lactation specialist can help parents with issues with breastfeeding, pumping, and bottle feeding.
If a child has oral restrictions, they likely have other body restrictions. Bodywork helps children achieve full and symmetrical motion of the head and neck, improving jaw and mouth motion.
Once a child receives a frenectomy, the tongue and other oral muscles must be retrained to achieve optimal results.