Precise, Compassionate Care
for Tongue and Lip Ties
A frenectomy may be the solution when your baby has trouble latching.
When a baby has difficulty breastfeeding or bottle-feeding, it can quickly create challenges for both the infant and the mother.
One common cause is ankyloglossia, also known as tongue-tie. This occurs when the tongue’s movement is restricted by the lingual frenulum—a small fold of tissue that connects the underside of the tongue to the floor of the mouth. In many cases, the upper lip may also be restricted by a lip tie, making it harder for the baby to properly latch onto the breast or bottle.
These conditions can often be corrected with a frenectomy, a simple procedure in which the frenulum is gently trimmed to allow greater mobility of the tongue or lip. This can dramatically improve a baby’s ability to latch, feed comfortably, and transfer milk effectively.
Potential Infant Challenges with Tongue-Tie
Babies with untreated ankyloglossia may experience:
- Poor latch and difficulty feeding
- Reflux, colic, and excessive gas
- Inadequate milk intake and poor weight gain
- Extended nursing sessions or frequent falling asleep while feeding
- Early weaning or refusal to breastfeed
As the child grows older, tongue-tie may also lead to speech difficulties, eating challenges, dental decay, orthodontic issues, periodontal disease, and esthetic concerns.
Effects on Mothers
When a baby struggles to latch, mothers can face complications such as:
- Breast pain and discomfort
- Cracked or bleeding nipples
- Infection or plugged milk ducts
- Emotional strain, including frustration, guilt, disappointment, or postpartum depression
Successful breastfeeding provides important benefits for mothers, too—including easier postpartum weight loss and protection against certain cancers.
A laser frenectomy gently releases tissue with light—not blades.
Choosing a laser frenectomy over traditional surgery offers clear advantages for both infants and mothers. This modern approach is safe, quick, and highly effective, with no known complications. Instead of using scalpels, the procedure relies on gentle laser light energy—eliminating the need for sedation, operating rooms, or medications, and greatly reducing the risk of infection.
The treatment takes only minutes in our office, with minimal bleeding, and babies are returned to their mothers right away for immediate feeding. Most importantly, laser technology provides greater precision, ensuring a more comfortable and effective outcome. With specialized protocols designed specifically for infants, we strive to minimize stress for both child and mother throughout the process.
FRENECTOMY POST OPERATIVE CARE
Post-procedure stretches are key to getting an optimum result. The mouth tends to heal so quickly that the tissue can constrict causing a new limitation and/or the persistence or return of symptoms.
Wounds tend to contract towards their center as healing occurs.
Be playful. The exercises are not meant to be forceful or prolonged.
Stretching exercises with quick and precise movements are best. A small amount of spotting or bleeding is common while doing the exercises, especially in the first few days. You may use infant Tylenol, children’s ibuprofen (only if older than 6 months), or arnica to help with pain.
Starting a few days after the procedure, the wound(s) will look gooey white and/or yellow in appearance. This is a completely normal inflammatory response.
This is the easier of the 2 sites to stretch, and if you are doing both lip and tongue, start with the lip. Place your finger under the lip and move it up as high as it will go, until you feel resistance. then tug the lip down towards the chin. Then gently sweep from side to side for several seconds. Remember, the goal is to open the opposing surfaces of the lip and gum so they cannot stick together.
Insert both index fingers into the mouth and dive under the tongue and pick up the posterior part of the tongue and lift towards the roof of the baby’s mouth. The tongue needs three separate stretching motions:
- Once you are under the tongue, pick up the posterior part of the tongue as high as it will go towards the palate. Hold it there for 3 seconds, relax, and do it again. The goal is to completely unfold the diamond so that you can visualize the entire diamond. The fold of the diamond across the middle is the first place it will reattach.
- Place your finger in the middle of the diamond and do a gentle circular stretch for several seconds to dilate or open up the diamond.
- Turn your finger sideways and do a rolling pin motion to try and keep the diamond as deep as possible. Start at the fold “center” of the diamond and move to either side of the diamond top and bottom to loosen up the muscles of the tongue and floor of the mouth.
More information at www.drghaheri.com