Things to Know About Tongue Ties

A few years ago, people wouldn’t know about the tongue ties. In fact, the dentists wouldn’t also pay much attention to this aspect of dentistry and oral health issues.

However, things have now changed to great extent, and lots of people contact the dentists only to get the tongue ties treated. Dentists and orthodontists have also been quite active by telling the patients more about tongue ties and their effects to oral and overall health.

What is a tongue tie?

A tongue tie issue is not about only the speech problem. It can be the very problem which can lead to serious oral health and facial development issues. From there, it can make things worse for the overall health too.

There is a lingual frenulum present under the tongues of all of us. This frenulum is the tissue which connects tongue with the floor of mouth. There can be extra tightness or thickness of this tissue in many people, and these extremes can result in the restricted tongue.

Why does it matter?

The ideal position of tongue when the mouth is closed is that it should fill in the entire upper jaw palate. This correct position of tongue helps in the proper shaping of upper jaw and it also guides the growth of face. An internal support for the upper jaw is always required, and this requirement is fulfilled by a correctly resting tongue.

When the tongue fails to fill the upper jaw palate completely, the gaps produced result in the flawed development of upper jaw, also leading to the teeth shape getting crooked. Hence, this childhood problem can turn out to be one of the consistently flawed features of the mouth, face or any other area around the head. And, it can be very painful too.

Treatment of tongue tie

Tongue tie may seem like a small issue at first but it can lead to the bigger issues when child enters into teenage and, after that, adulthood. Hence, getting it treated in the earliest stage can prevent the problems which can sometimes be irreversible.

There is a minor tongue tie treatment procedure which is called frenotomy or frenulectomy. This procedure lasts only a few minutes as the ENT specialist would use laser or scalpel to loosen the tightness of tongue tie. However, you will need to make sure that you are getting this treatment for your child only from a specialist because if this problem is not treated well, you may have to get another surgical appointment.

Things to consider after the surgery

After the tongue is released, your child may not be able to move it freely yet. Let’s put it this way. It’s not possible to move the arm freely when it is untied from a sling which would have been there for a long time.

Hence, the tongue may have been released but it will take fair amount of time for it to move freely in the mouth and fill the gap. This is where myofunctional therapy can help.