About 5% of children are born with some degree of frenulum restriction, also known as tongue tie or lip tie. What it means in practice, is that they suffer from restrictions of movement. It impedes the movement of the tongue or lips to various degrees.
While children with a tongue tie have to contend with difficulties which may only be discovered as they grow older.
And adults have to contend with is very much the result of old habits of compensation for inadequate tongue mobility. The areas of difficulty spread to include social and domestic situations, self-esteem, the work environment, and dental health. Thus it is seen that the consequences of unrepaired tongue-tie do not reduce with time – instead, more difficulties are experienced as time passes.
"Okay, but what does it actually mean?"...
For babies, that means that your baby might have problems with suckling efficiently at the breast or bottle, which causes compensated ways of swallowing. This may lead to nipple pain and trauma, poor breast drainage, therefore, leading to a decrease in milk supply over time.
When it comes to bottle feeding, tongue/lip ties cause incorrect function habit and increase intake of air, and often spilling and drooling milk. This will affect the formation of jaw bones and lead to exhaustion of your baby. Your baby has to work at least twice as hard to get the right amount of milk!
When breastfeeding success is not achieved and breast milk substitutes are used, optimum infant outcomes are reduced. This may lead to both short and long-term effects such as:
The following are some more symptoms that infants, children and adults may experience:
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ADULTS |
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So, get in touch with KIDS and our experienced and caring team will assist you with any questions and concerns you may have, and help you to navigate your way through the lip and tongue tie procedure.
KIDS – Healthy Kids Nurtured by Nature
p:(07) 4942 5111
e: mackay@healthykidsqld.com.au
a: 6 Discovery Lane, Mackay QLD 4740
Monday 9:00am to 5:00pm
Tuesday 9:00am to 5:00pm
Wednesday 9:00am to 5:00pm
Thursday 9:00am to 5:00pm
Friday 9:00am to 3:00pm
Saturday – CLOSED
Sunday – CLOSED
Lip and Tongue Tie Forms:
- Child New Patient Form
- Expectations Lip and Tongue Tie
- Stretching Video
- Health Professional Comms Form