Babies' Tongue Tie / Lip Tie Issues
Tongue tie, also known as "ankyloglossia," refers to a condition where the soft tissue connection that attaches the tongue to the floor of the mouth is shorter, tighter, or thicker than usual, limiting the movement of the tongue. While the prevalence of tongue tie is increasing globally, a study conducted in the United States in 2020 indicated a prevalence rate between 4% and 10%.
While a short and thick tongue tie may not cause any issues in some cases, it can affect certain fundamental functions such as sucking and swallowing in others. A child with tongue tie may have difficulty sticking out their tongue. This condition can also affect the child's eating, speech, and swallowing patterns. Additionally, it may lead to orthodontic problems, spacing between the front teeth, aesthetic concerns, and gum problems.
Lip tie, on the other hand, refers to a soft tissue connection extending between the lip and the gumline. When it is short or thick, it can cause early feeding problems, difficulty in sucking, restriction of lip movements, and, in later years, issues with the eruption of the front teeth or the development of gaps between the front teeth.
If the lip tie is short, it can prevent the toothbrush from reaching this area, leading to increased plaque buildup, gum bleeding, swelling, and gum recession.
How to Recognize Tongue Tie?
It can be detected during the initial examination of newborns. In older children, restricted tongue movement, difficulty pronouncing certain sounds such as "s" and "r," difficulty in sticking out the tongue, and the tongue tip forming a heart or "v" shape while attempting to stick it out may indicate tongue tie.
How to Recognize Lip Tie?
The blanching test is applied for this purpose. By holding the upper lip with two fingers and moving it, if the tissue between the two front teeth whitens, it indicates that the length of the tissue is insufficient, and a frenectomy may be required.
Treatment for Lip Tie?
According to experts, if the observed tongue tie is mild and does not cause any feeding issues for the baby, treatment is not necessary. The physician can clearly identify this condition during the initial examination. Therefore, early pediatric dentistry examination in infants is crucial. If the tongue tie is significantly short and thick, surgical intervention, rather than medication, is required. Surgical intervention, typically performed by cutting the tongue tie, is an older method. Nowadays, laser removal of the tissue is more commonly preferred as a contemporary approach.
Advantages of Laser Frenectomy:
- It may not require anesthesia or may only require topical anesthesia, making the procedure painless and bloodless.
- It results in less pain, swelling, and scar tissue development.
- It is quick and easy to perform.
- There is a lower risk of infection post-operation.
- It does not require stitches.
- After treatment, complications in speech and feeding are less observed, and speech typically improves as the child begins to pronounce letters. In some cases, speech therapy may be required.
Treatment Timing:
As soon as tongue tie is noticed, if the expert recommends specialist intervention after the examination, the procedure should be performed immediately. There is no need to wait for a certain age.
In the past, it was thought that it was correct to wait until at least the age of 10 to remove the lip tie and to perform the surgery if the gap between the two front teeth did not close after the eruption of the canine teeth. However, since laser surgery does not result in any scar tissue, if the specialist believes that the thickness of the lip tie causes spacing between the two front teeth or gum and brushing problems in the front area, they may choose to perform the surgery earlier.
Article Written by Dentist: Dr. Gizem Özcan
