About Tongue-tie

Tongue-tie is an inborn disorder, which may have a genetic factor association. When a soft or thick band of tissues (lingual frenulum) from the tongue attached to the floor of the mouth which restrict the usual function of the tongue is referred to as tongue-tie. A tongue-tied child can have difficulty in eating; speaking, especially newborns may interfere with breast-feeding. Though in some cases found no harm to the normal functions, some are to be corrected by simple surgical procedures.

How it is caused?

When the embryo grows in the womb, the tongue and the mouth bonded together. Gradually the tongue detaches from the floor of the mouth over time and a thin cord of tissue ( the frenulum or lingual frenulum) links the bottom of the tongue to the mouth floor.

While the infant grows, the lingual frenulum thickness recedes to thin and shrinks. Whereas in an infant affected by tongue tie, the frenulum stays thick and no receding occurs that makes it difficult to move the tongue.

Tongue-tie is commonly found in boys than girls and sometimes in the whole members of a family. Tongue-tie can lead to breastfeeding problems in newborns. Feeding at an abnormal position due to tongue-tie can cause pain in the mother’s nipple and poor lactation to the child. Kids affected by tongue-tie may suffer to spell some specific characters and to sing a song like others. Also, they feel hard to move tongue normally while eating their favourite food like other children without a tongue tie. These conditions will affect children’s self-esteem. Above all tongue-tie will ruin the oral health too. Living with all these challenges is very painful for any kid. Hence, bring your child before the doctor whenever you notice any symptom of tongue-tie is our advice.

Tongue-tie release for a case @ Jerush dental and facial corrective centre

A year before, a 10-year-old boy Thomas accompanied by his parents came to our centre with a complaint of restricted mobility of tongue and speech anomaly. After 3 days, he was admitted in the OT for surgery. Local anaesthesia was administered. During the procedure (frenuloplasty) our surgeon clipped the lingual frenulum to release the tongue. The procedure resulted in suturing the wound and slight pressure applied to stop the bleeding. He was then allowed to back home with medication advice and future appointment date. He did several visits to our hospital and we could notice the gradual improvement. Now we are happy to hear that, the boy’s tongue functions normally.

Jerush Dental & Facial Corrective Centre at Thuckalay & Chennai, provides quality treatment and care for Tongue Tie and all ailments in mouth and jaws. Highly qualified surgeons are always ready to serve you in the hospital’s world-class amenities and ambience. Our Thuckalay Centre is very near to the popular towns of Kanyakumari District – Nagercoil and Marthandam.