Frenectomies – Mansfield, TX
Effective, Gentle Treatment for Lip and Tongue Ties
It’s interesting how small things can have significant consequences. A small tissue in your baby’s mouth can create big problems for their growth. If your child has a lip or tongue tie, it can affect how well they breastfeed, how they speak, and how they develop. Fortunately, our team has the capability to give your baby better oral function through a procedure called a frenectomy, specifically a laser frenectomy. To learn more about this treatment, keep reading the content below and or reach out to our Mansfield office to schedule a consultation with us!
How Do Lip and Tongue Ties Develop?
During gestation, while the baby is still growing and forming, thick pieces of tissue (called a frenulum) connect the lips and tongue to the upper and lower teeth and the floor of the mouth. Most of the time, this tissue basically dissolves before the baby is born. However, some babies retain this tissue after birth, and it restricts movement and function, causing a lip or tongue tie.
Common symptoms of a lip or tongue include the following:
- Trouble latching
- Sore nipples
- Slow or low weight gain
- Excessive fussiness
For older children, symptoms may manifest differently:
- Difficulty eating solid foods (e.g., gagging or struggling with certain textures of food)
- Difficulty saying certain sounds.
Why is it Important to Treat Lip & Tongue Ties?
If your baby has a lip or tongue tie, they may not be able to breastfeed as they should. Normally, the tongue is raised to create a seal around the nipple so the baby can suck milk. However, if your baby cannot achieve this suction, they can fail to gain weight and thrive. Once the lip or tongue tie is resolved, your baby should be able to nurse correctly almost instantly.
Even if you bottle feed your baby, bypassing nursing problems, a tongue or lip tie can still interfere with your child’s growth, development, and health. For instance, your child may find it difficult to pronounce certain sounds like th, t, d, r, l, s, and z, hindering their speech progression and complicating communication with others.
Lip & Tongue Tie Treatment
Traditionally, lip and tongue ties are addressed using a scalpel and sutures. The tie would be severed and then any bleeding areas stitched up. As you might imagine, this method is often a painful process for little ones. However, at Broad Park Family Dentistry, we have a soft tissue laser, which enables us to release the lip or tongue tie in a gentler way. With the laser, we remove the thick tissue with little bleeding or discomfort. In fact, we may not need to use local anesthetic at all. If you are a nursing parent, you can begin nursing immediately after the procedure to soothe your baby, to help jumpstart the healing process, and to see improvement in their oral function.
Lip & Tongue-Tie FAQs
How Should I Prepare My Baby for a Frenectomy?
You’ll be pleased to learn that little preparation is required for a frenectomy. Since your baby does not realize what is going to happen, all you need to do is remain calm. Your baby will be receptive to this. Also, our team recommends feeding your baby 60-90 minutes before their procedure. This will ensure they are slightly hungry afterward and ready to nurse or take a bottle.
In the few days leading up to the procedure, you can begin practicing various exercises with your baby, one of which is allowing them to practice sucking with their tongue. To encourage this, you can place a clean finger on their tongue and wait for them to begin sucking. Try to gently pull it away to see if they will work harder to keep it in their mouth. You can also rub a clean finger along their lower gums, which should encourage their tongue to move in the same direction. This promotes lateral function.
Does a Frenectomy Hurt?
Since our Broad Park Family Dentistry team uses a soft tissue laser to perform a frenectomy, the procedure will not cause pain. While there may be only a little discomfort, it is often not enough to warrant local anesthesia. The laser’s precision targets the excess tissue, effectively cauterizing it as it releases the band. This reduces the amount of bleeding your child will experience. If the tissue is thicker, we will use local anesthesia to ensure optimal comfort.
How Long Does a Frenectomy Take?
A frenectomy normally only takes a few minutes when completed with a soft tissue laser. If the band of tissue is particularly thick or if your child requires a lip and tongue-tie frenectomy, it is normal for the procedure to take longer. You can expect our team to discuss the timeframe during the consultation. This will give you a better idea of how long you can expect your child to be away from you and how soon you can begin comforting them.
What Should I Do After My Child’s Lip or Tongue-Tie Has Been Treated?
Once we are finished with your child’s frenectomy, you should know there is a slight risk that the tissue might reconnect. To prevent this, you will need to perform a few mild stretches in the days following the procedure. Before leaving our office, we will show you how to perform these stretches to prevent reattachment.
All you need to do is start with clean hands, take their upper lip or tongue, and gently raise it upward for a few seconds. Then, gently swipe the clean finger underneath their lip or tongue and move it side to side a few times a day for 2-3 days. If necessary, you can give your child pain medication as instructed and only if they are old enough.
