Frenectomy
Frenectomy, also known as a tongue-tie or a lip-tie release, is a dental procedure used to treat the physical conditions that may limit the movement of your child’s tongue or upper lip. At The Dentists for Kids, our pediatric dentists perform your child’s procedure using a CO2 soft tissue laser to provide a treatment with greater precision and effectiveness. We invite you to call us at 210-696-2563 to learn more about laser frenectomy in San Antonio, Texas and to schedule your child’s consultation with Dr. Peter Gurr and Dr. Scott Jensen.
When your child’s frenum (the cord of tissue under the tongue or upper lip) develops in the wrong position, it can limit the mobility of their tongue and cause difficulty with eating, speaking, or moving normally. This condition is known as a tongue-tie or a lip-tie. At The Dentists for Kids, our dentists treat children as young as just a few days old as well as older children.
Some of the symptoms for infants with tongue-tie include:
- Difficulty in latching on to nurse, or falling off easily while nursing
- Gumming or chewing the nipple while nursing
- Choking on milk or popping off to gasp for air while nursing
- An inability to full drain the breast or bottle
In older children, common symptoms of tongue-tie include:
- Speech impediments
- Difficulty pronouncing certain sounds (such as L, R, T, D, N, TH, SH, and Z)
- Difficult chewing and swallowing food
- Receding gums at the attachment site
By treating tongue-tie with a laser, our pediatric dentists are able to provide you with a simple, minimally invasive treatment. Laser frenectomy is quick, and often requires little to no numbing beforehand. Additionally, there are no stitches, very little bleeding, and a quick and comfortable recovery.
While some children experience immediate results, others may take a day or two before the tongue or lip begin to show improvement. Please remember that the tongue is a muscle, and will need a little bit of time to adapt to its new mobility. We will schedule a follow-up appointment with you 1-2 weeks after the procedure to ensure that your child is healing properly.
Additional Recommendations
If we perform a laser frenectomy on an infant, we recommend nursing immediately after the procedure to stimulate movement for better wound healing and help prevent infection with breast milk antibiotics.
If your child receives this treatment due to a speech impediment, we recommend continuing speech therapy to help control the tongue.
If you have any questions about laser frenectomy, and to schedule your child’s consultation with our caring pediatric specialists, please call our office today.