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Tongue Tied?

What exactly is a tongue tie?

The tongue helps with all sorts of things….eating and swallowing, speech, and breathing. But what if your tongue is literally tied down….unable to perform the necessary tasks?  That is the definition of a tongue tie.

Everyone has a small tissue attachment under the tongue known as the lingual frenulum.  It is normal, except when the length of the frenulum is shortened or the attachment is too close to the tip of the tongue.  Both of these abnormalities can affect tongue movement.  A tongue should be able to easily left to the roof of the palate when eating, drinking, swallowing, resting (this includes breathing….through the nose).  However, if the frenulum attachment is too tight the tongue does not have the proper range of motion and so rather than rising up to the palate during function it will actually protrude out (known as a tongue thrust).

5-17313 - KIRA BELL - Initial - Occlusal Lower

This picture shows a severe tongue tie.  She was 16 years old at the time of her tongue tie release.

5-17313 - KIRA BELL - Initial - Intraoral Right

This is the flaring of her front teeth and open bite she developed as a result of tongue tie and improper tongue movement.

Improper movement of the tongue can lead to other issues.  A continual tongue thrust can lead to the movement of teeth, creating an open bite.  If the tongue is unable to lift properly to the palate to open the airway for nasal breathing it continues to sit low in the mouth which can contribute to narrowing of the airway and be a factor in causing improper mouth breathing.

Fortunately there is a fix for a tongue tie!  A simple procedure can be done to release the attachment so that the tongue can function freely as it is supposed to.  The earlier this can be done in babies and infants the better so that they develop proper feeding, speaking and breathing habits.  However, the procedure can be performed at any age and can be quite freeing….literally!  However, the older you are, the more your tongue has developed bad habits, and you may need several visits with an oral myologist to re-learn proper tongue function once it has been released.

Baby Food…to mush or not?!?

Lets talk for a minute about baby food.

Have you ever noticed that children in underdeveloped countries who are often photographed have a perfect smile, and perfectly straight teeth?  Clearly there generally isn’t access to an orthodontist….so how can this be?  And why is it that children from developed countries like the States often need orthodontic care?

Often in underdeveloped countries, babies are breast-fed until they are several years old.  They are strapped to mom’s back and given things like sugarcane and biltong to chew on to keep their attention.  Here in the States and in other developed countries our babies often aren’t breast-fed for as long, and we feed our babies rice cereal and other pureed foods.  (Please know that I am not comparing facial development with nutrition.  Sadly, so many of these underdeveloped countries face malnutrition, especially in their children, however, I do want to focus on the normal facial development that often occurs.)

Beautiful, broad smiles that often develop are due to several things.  Breast feeding over bottle feeding really helps develop the arch form of the mouth.  It makes the palate broad and flat, allowing all of the teeth to erupt into their proper positions.  By having a baby chew on food rather than be served mush, he/she is developing facial muscles which intern is developing the bony structures underneath.  Chewy things challenge the skeleton to develop…mush does not.

This is why breast feeding is ideal as long as you are able to and feel comfortable doing so. I understand that this may not always be possible for a myriad of reasons.  I also recommend that you give your baby foods that challenge facial development.  Allow them to chew on foods as they eat rather than spoon-feeding pureed foods that are easily swallowed without really any muscle use.

Here is an amazing book that discusses just this!  (link below to purchase)

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