Pediatric Tongue and Lip Tie in San Antonio

Sometimes patients present a tight frenum, or fold of tissue that restricts motion of the lip and/or tongue.
These ties can cause difficulty with:

• breastfeeding,
• bottle-feeding,
• swallowing,
• breathing,
• dental decay,
• spacing of the front teeth,
• speech impediments, and
• digestive issues.

To gain complete range of motion of the tongue and release the lip, a frenectomy (also called frenotomy) is recommended. This surgery is a common dental procedure that can be performed either with a scalpel or a laser. The advantages of using the laser method are:

• It vaporizes the tissue with almost no bleeding
• It sterilizes at touch, reducing the risk of infection
• It requires no stitches
• It minimizes post-operative discomfort
• It promotes faster recovery
• The whole procedure takes just minutes

At Happy Pediatric Dentistry, we make sure that frenectomy procedures are a success by providing a post-op protocol and training the parents to follow up with kid-friendly stretching exercises to prevent re-attachment. These exercises are pleasant for the child/baby and should be started before the procedure is preformed.