Lip & Tongue Tie Treatment Orlando
Gentle & Effective Lip & Tongue Tie Treatment
Dr. Nabi has undergone years of continuing education to ensure that when it comes to treating lip and tongue ties, she’s able to provide the absolute best possible level of care for patients of all ages. Using advanced technologies such as a soft tissue laser, she can release banded tissues underneath the tongue and behind the upper lip to increase movement and prevent the potential issues that tongue and lip ties can lead to. If you believe that you or your child may have a lip or tongue tie, call our dental office to schedule an appointment; we’re here to help!
Why Choose Central Florida Tongue-Tie & Kids Dentistry for Lip & Tongue-Tie Treatment?
- Highly Skilled Dentist with Years of Experience
- Children and Adult Patients Welcome
- Insurance Accepted and Financing Available
How Do Lip and Tongue Ties Develop?
A lip or tongue tie generally forms while an infant is still in the womb; it occurs when the frenulum, which is a thin tissue that connects the lip to the gums or the tongue to the floor of the mouth, is too thick, tight, or otherwise restricted. The AAPD states that there are seven frenula in total within the oral cavity, including the one that attaches the tongue to the floor of the mouth, two that attach the lips to the gums, and four in the cheek areas. This can lead to greatly impacted tongue and lip movement, which in turn can have a negative impact on a baby’s ability to nurse or a child’s ability to speak clearly.
Symptoms of Lip & Tongue Ties
It’s important to be able to recognize symptoms of tongue and lip ties, since early evaluation and treatment can prevent both short and long-term problems. Some common signs of these conditions include:
- Difficulty breastfeeding or bottle feeding
- Acting extremely fatigued by nursing
- Poor weight gain in infants
- Colic, or excessive crying
- Picky or slow eater
- Sleep disorder symptoms
- Speech delays or articulation issues
- Gaps between the upper front teeth
If your child has a tongue or lip tie and you’re nursing them, you might experience pain during or after breastfeeding, in addition to your child experiencing these symptoms.
Why is It Important to Treat Lip & Tongue Ties?
Untreated tongue and lip ties can lead to serious long-term problems for your child, the most common being hindering their ability to breastfeed or speak, according to the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry. As a result of these issues, others can arise, like slow weight gain and signs of colic and acid reflux. For older children and teenagers, an untreated lip or tongue tie can result in speech impediments, poor nutrition linked to problems chewing, and even potential sleep-breathing disorders.
While not every lip and tongue tie case needs to receive treatment, like for those that are minor and will have little-to-no impact on your child, more noticeable cases that can affect your child’s health, development, or life may require treatment.
How Lip & Tongue Tie Treatment Works
The process of treating a lip or tongue tie is surprisingly straightforward, and our team will ensure that your child is made comfortable throughout this quick and simple procedure. Using a soft tissue laser, Dr. Nabi will carefully release the lip or tongue tie using gentle light energy. Targeting only this area of soft tissue, it cauterizes while it works so that there is minimal bleeding and swelling.
And because a laser is used as opposed to a traditional scalpel and sutures, there is little risk for postoperative infection because it sterilizes the area. As soon as the banded tissue has been released, your child will be able to move their lips and tongue freely, which means that you’ll be able to feed your infant immediately following their appointment.