Infant Tongue and Lip-Tie
Nursing mothers that are experiencing nipple pain, uneven breast drainage, or low milk supply may have an infant with tongue and lip-tie.
Tongue and lip-tie is a condition in which the center of the tongue has difficulty rising from the floor of the mouth because the tissue (lingual frenulum) that attaches the tongue's tip to the floor of the mouth is unusually short, think or tight. While tongue and lip-tie is not always easily visible in infants, some more obvious symptoms for babies include:
- Difficulty latching and sucking
- Inadequate weight gain or weight loss
- Gas and reflux
- Irritability or colic
- Fatigue or falling asleep shortly after beginning nursing
- Difficulty staying latched while nursing
- Coughing, choking or making strange noises while nursing
What can you do?
To feel for a restrictive frenulum, run your finger across the floor of your child's mouth. In the center, you will find the frenulum. If you have difficulty going past the frenulum without going around it, then your child may have a restricted frenulum.
If you believe your child has tongue and lip-tie, please don't hesitate to call. We can assess your child's oral health and help you determine the best treatment solution to meet their needs. Our Periodontist can perform a quick and relatively painless corrective surgery. Recovery from surgery is often very fast and most babies can nurse immediately afterwards.
Adult Frenulectomy
Some adults have live their entire lives without realizing that they have a tongue and/or lip tie. They may also have recession due to a high frenum attachment extending from the lip to the gum margin on the tooth. Just as a procedure can be performed on a baby/child to correct the issue, it may be an appropriate procedure on any adults that may have these conditions.
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