Do you know what tongue tie is?

Dental
, , ,
1

Tongue tie is also known as Ankyloglossia.

It is a congenital condition that occurs when the thin vertical band of tissue that joins the base of the tongue to the floor of the mouth is unusually short, thick, or tight. This restricts the tongue’s range of motion.

Problems caused by tongue tie:

  • Feeding problems in infants-- that is difficulty in latching to the nipple during suckling of milk.
  • Speech defects, especially in the articulation of the sounds: l, r, t, d, n, th, sh, and z.
  • Dental problems like spacing between lower anterior teeth.
  • As the child grows into an adult, this can cause difficulty in cleaning food debris from the teeth, which in turn leads to plaque formation and inflammation of gums due to poor oral hygiene.
  • It leads to the development of a mouth breathing habit, which leads to abnormal development of the oral cavity and teeth.
  • Due to improper resting posture of the tongue, there is an increased chance of developing sleep apnea, which means laboured breathing or gasping or choking for air during sleep due to the falling back of the back of the tongue, thus blocking the airway.

You might have tongue tie if you have the following signs:

  1. You won’t be able to touch the tip of your tongue to the roof of your mouth, that is the palate, just behind your upper front two teeth.
  2. You will find difficulty in moving your tongue from left to right after bringing it forward.
  3. You will find difficulty in sticking out your tongue past your lower front teeth.
  4. When you stick out your tongue, it appears to have a heart-shaped notch in the midline of the tongue.

Treatments:

Frenotomy –

A simple, minimally invasive procedure where the tight tissue under the tongue is loosened or cut to improve tongue movement. It is usually done for mild to moderate tongue-tie.

Frenectomy –

A procedure where the tissue under the tongue is completely removed. This is usually needed in more severe tongue-tie cases when the tissue is very thick or tight.

These procedures can be done using:

  • Laser

  • Electric cautery device, or

  • Traditional scissors/scalpel methods.

Laser treatment is becoming more popular because it usually causes:

  • Less bleeding,

  • Less pain and swelling,

  • Lower infection risk, and

  • Faster healing.

Tongue tie
Tongue tie415×233 42 KB

Did you check if you have a tongue tie?

MBH/PS

5 Likes
2

Learned something new.

1 Like
3

This is really informative. I didn’t realize tongue tie could affect so many things beyond infancy, like speech, oral hygiene, and even sleep. It shows how important early detection is.

1 Like
4

Interesting topic!

1 Like
5

Yes, and with the laser treatment it is very easy to treat tongue tie. And ut is very important to understand it in early stage, so that ut do not cause much problem and discomfort.

1 Like
7

I have seen a kid with a tougue tie and with god’s grace, he got surgically corrected and is better now.

1 Like
8

I never knew about freneotomy would like to learn more about it

9

I’m glad you found this informative

10

Sure ! Will try to create new posts around it soon Naina.

11

I’m glad that kid found the right treatment , at the right time and is now leading a better life .

12

Absolutely correct Mansi .

13

You are right Dr. Simran .

14

I am glad this topic intrigued you .

15

I am glad you found this insightful

16

i knew about it, but didnt know about the details of it
very interesting to learn about it

18

Ankyloglossia is one of the most common congenital anomaly that we spot in dental paediatric departments.

19

True ! indeed an interesting area in dentistry.

20

Absolutely mam.

21

Informative and well-explained topic.

Interesting to see how tongue tie can affect feeding, speech, and oral health in the long term.

22

I am glad you found this piece of information useful