Tongue tie release

If your baby has tongue tie his frenulum, the mucous membrane under the tongue which connects the tongue to the floor of the mouth, is extending to the tip of the tongue. This restricts the movement of the tongue. When the baby tries to stick out the tongue, the tip of the tongue makes a slight heart shape or W shape because of the tongue tie. 4 % of the babies are found to have tongue tie.

tongue tie release

 

 Breast feeding a tongue tied baby can become painful, because of the rubbing of the tongue to the nipple. Depending upon the severity of the tongue tie experienced by your baby he may also develop dental problems. A normal tongue sweeps the mouth to remove food particles and to spread saliva. But in a baby with tongue tie this sweeping process will not take place properly as the movement of the tongue is restricted. This will increase the risk of cavities, bad breath and gum diseases.  If your baby is having a very bad tongue tie, then he may have problems in speech development also.

Ferenectomy is a surgical procedure which is used for the release of the tongue tie. If your child is having tongue tie problem you should meet a dentist. He will consider several options including the possibility of the defect being rectified on its own. You dentist may suggest the consultation with a speech therapist to consider the possibility of increasing the mobility of the tongue through tongue exercise.

If he finds that ferenectomy is the only feasible solution for the problem your child is facing then only he will opt for this procedure. This is a very simple procedure which takes not more than 15 minutes. Ferenectomy is usually done under local anesthesia and sometimes it is done with intravenous sedatives. If the child is very young then this procedure will be performed under general anesthesia. The surgeon will excise the frenum with the help of a scalpel of laser beam.

It will take one or two weeks for completely healing the wound caused by ferenectomy.  During this period the patient will be given anti inflammatory and non steroidal drugs and pain killers. Rinsing the area with salt water and brushing the tooth carefully and flossing can help the healing process. When you meet the dentist after two weeks the stitching will be removed.

If your child have tongue-tie problem, visit our doctor M.S.Saravana Kumar for the cost effective treatment..