As with most parents, your child’s health is likely of the utmost importance to you. Yet despite our best efforts, sometimes our children can be born with minor defects that cause issues with their airways and oral health. In pediatric dentistry, common defects in infants and toddlers include tongue and lip ties.
While not usually life-threatening, these conditions can make it difficult for babies to breastfeed. For toddlers, this can make it difficult to eat solid foods, preventing them from getting the nutrition they need as they develop. At Aviator Pediatric Dentistry, we have years of experience treating both lip and tongue ties and offer pediatric dental services to help alleviate the issues these conditions can cause.
Learn more below about the signs, symptoms, and treatment options available for infants and children with tongue ties.
What Are the Signs And Symptoms of Tongue Ties?
A tongue tie (medically referred to as ankyloglossia is a tight or tiny band under the tongue that prevents the tongue’s muscles from moving usually. A tongue tie often results in trouble with breastfeeding.
Some of the ways that tongue ties affect breastfeeding babies include:
- Limited upward movement of the tongue
- Issues maintaining or achieving adequate suction during breastfeeding
- Difficulty keeping lips pursed while breastfeeding
Tongue ties can range in severity, so if you’re observing the above symptoms in your child, it’s helpful to talk with your pediatric dentist about your child’s breastfeeding behavior and catch these signs and symptoms of tongue ties before they cause issues.
What Are the Signs And Symptoms of Lip Ties?
Lip ties are a similar condition, but instead of affecting the tongue, they affect an area of the upper lip known as the labial frenulum. This condition is caused by a tight band (labial frenulum) that connects the upper lip to the gums, and can affect your child’s ability to move their lips as well as maintain suction while breastfeeding.
Key signs of lip ties to watch for include:
- Breast milk leaking or spilling from the baby’s mouth
- Abnormally-long breastfeeding times
- Poor weight gain
- Clicking sounds while attempting to latch onto the breast
Just as with tongue ties, it’s essential to consult with your pediatric dentist at Aviator Pediatric Dentistry. Pediatric dental care not only detects these conditions early, if present, but can also alleviate concerns that signs of lip and tongue ties are simply common issues some babies experience with breastfeeding.
What Do Lip Ties & Tongue Ties Look Like in Older Children?
Sometimes lip and tongue ties aren’t identified in infants, and the issues may persist into toddlerhood and early childhood. Because these children have progressed past the age of breastfeeding, the symptoms to watch for may be more complex and present themselves as:
- Picky eating: Children with lip or tongue ties may struggle with textures in particular
- Trouble using silverware: Because tongue and lip ties usually limit mobility, children with these conditions may struggle to use silverware or to clean them properly after each bite
- Mouth breathing: While some people are predisposed to mouthbreathing, lip and tongue ties may be the cause of this respiratory pattern in some children.
Aviator Pediatric Dentistry can help your child by treating lip ties and tongue ties so that eating becomes more enjoyable and less of a chore. Below, we outline how we can help treat these conditions in kids.
How Can Aviator Pediatric Denistry Help Treat Tongue Ties & Lip Ties?
At Aviator Pediatric Dentistry, we can address the symptoms of tongue ties and lip ties—and before bringing your child in, it can be helpful to talk with your child about what to expect before their dentist appointment. Some of the treatment options available for infants and kids with lip and tongue ties, as well as trouble with breastfeeding, include:
- Initial evaluation and examination: Our pediatric dentists will assess your child’s tongue and lip mobility to confirm the diagnosis (lip or tongue tie, or both). This will help the team understand the extent of your child’s mobility limitations and how they may be affecting their ability to breastfeed or eat.
- A frenotomy is a minor, less invasive procedure that involves a small cut in the frenum and/or frenulum to improve range of motion and comfort for the upper lip or tongue—sometimes both. Frenotomies heal typically within 7-14 days.
- A frenectomy is a more involved procedure to remove or reshape the frenum (or frenulum) when a limited range of motion is severe. This process, while slightly more involved, also heals within 7-14 days.
- Comprehensive aftercare: In the following days and weeks, Aviator will partner with you to ensure your child’s progress improves.
- This may include:
- OTC, pediatrician-approved child pain-relievers
- Comfort strategies for both child and parent during breastfeeding
- For toddlers: Gentle oral stretches and mobility exercises to get them used to their improved range of motion while eating and talking.
- This may include:
Your child’s oral health is our number one priority. Aviator Pediatric Dentistry invites you to reach out to our office online or by phone to schedule your child’s appointment today.