Frenectomies & Tongue Ties

Frenums

Many people have lips and tongues that are held too tight by the frenum (that ligament that attaches your lips and your tongue to your gum and jaw bone). This can cause

gum recession in between the teeth (mainly the front upper and front lower teeth).

gum recession on individual teeth

gaps between teeth

Tongue Ties

Ankyloglossia or tongue-tie, occurs in patients whose lingual frenum is short and tight resulting in decreased mobility of the tongue.

It can impede speech (especially in children) and sometimes it keeps teeth separated, also common in children. Many babies can find it difficult to suckle if they have a tied tongue. Mothers, midwives and doctors see this often.

There are two main causes of tongue-tie: either the frenum is too short and tight, or it failed to move back down the tongue during development and is still attached to the tongue tip. In the latter case, a heart-shaped tongue tip is one of the obvious symptoms. It is not clear whether or not tongue-tie is inherited. However, there is no evidence to suggest that anything the mother did (or didn’t do) during pregnancy is responsible for the child developing tongue-tie

Treatment Options

a. The conventional surgery to release frenums is quite traumatic, painful and can take a long time to heal. There are two types

Clipping the short frenulum. Here the doctor holds the tip of the tongue with a piece of gauze and uses scissors to clip the frenulum back to where it joins the base of the tongue. However, when ankyloglossia is associated with foreshortening of the genioglossus muscle, as often occurs, merely snipping the lingual frenum may not allow free and coordinated movement of the tongue sufficient for the demands of a gradually growing speech and language structure
Surgery in hospital - Surgeons generally operate at the earliest at 6 months, when the baby is felt to be better able to handle a general anaesthetic. This postponement of surgery has the disadvantage of prolonging the period of feeding difficulty and strengthening habits of abnormal tongue movement. Surgery in hospital usually involves a half-day stay, fasting prior to the operation, approximately 4 minutes under a general anesthetic, and soluble stitches along the incision. There is usually discomfort until healing is complete and this may take approximately 10 days, after which speech therapy may be commenced. The procedure is very safe and there are no contra-indications.

b. With lasers we can precisely and painlessly remove the tissue making it more comfortable for you. There is no bleeding afterwards, no sutures and hardly any discomfort. Children go to school the day after and adults can go back to work the same day. Eating is normal and a baby will suckle immediately after the procedure! It is a truly amazing way to have surgery.

Here at Smile Concepts, we have invested in the latest laser technology for the above procedure to be performed

If you would like to know what how else laser technology can be used in Dentistry please click here

If you would like more information on this subject, please contact Smile Concepts directly by clicking here or ringing 02 9267 7777