Dr. Mbibi and her staff believe in setting your child on the right path for a lifetime of confidence and a happy smile. One way to keep your child on this track is treating your child’s tongue and/ or lip tie.
Tongue/lip tie occurs when the tissue connecting the tongue/lip to the gums is too short.
Tongue tie inhibits the ability to effectively protrude or lift the tongue; this can negatively affect feeding and speech. Children with tongue-tie are usually unable to enunciate “S” sounds.
In newborns, tongue tie can affect a baby’s ability to latch on to the nipple or bottle, inhibiting proper feeding; this can contribute to malnutrition, low-weight, and can affect the child’s ability to reach growth and development milestones. Tongue tie could affect the nursing mother by causing breast soreness and infection, because the baby is having a hard time latching on to feed properly.
Also, since attachment of the tongue/lip to the gum is too short, feeding and speech will cause constant (undesirable) movement of the gum tissue; this can cause food and bacteria accumulation around the gum area leading to gum disease, gum recession, or even tooth loss due to periodontitis.
If this is a concern for your child, or after a comprehensive dental examination, Dr. Mbibi may recommend a “Frenectomy” with either a Soft Tissue Laser or surgical scissors, depending on the age of your child and the etiology of the tie.
