Ankyloglossia (tongue tie or sublingual tie) is the short or thick connection (frenulum) between the tongue and the floor of the mouth
. This may lead to restriction of tongue movements. Restriction of tongue movements may affect the child's
speech and nutrition. However, it does not cause as much of a problem as it is thought.
In a very small number of children, intervention is required.
Whether or not there is a sublingual ligament and how? It is evaluated?
When evaluating tongue tie, evaluation can be made by checking whether it passes the lower lip level.
It is possible to perform this test by making you lick ice cream (candy). If the tongue is not mobile enough in the mouth, its effectiveness in cleaning food residues and preventing tooth decay decreases. Additionally, it may cause bad breath and tooth decay.
When Should Surgical Intervention Be Performed?
If the tongue tie is too short, surgical intervention is necessary. If there is no problem with the sucking function, it can be waited until 2
years of age. If so, the baby may not gain enough weight. In this case, other causes are also investigated. If the cause is tongue tie, intervention is made. If there is no problem in feeding, speech function
is evaluated around the age of 2. If there is a problem that affects his speech and he has difficulty in pronouncing some letters, the tongue tie is cut.
How is the Surgery Performed?
It is a simple procedure performed with local anesthesia. As the child gets older, it becomes more appropriate to perform it under general anesthesia.
There will be no significant complications.
What advice should be given to families?
The most important issue is not to forget the evaluation of hearing functions in children with speech disorders. Without good hearing, there is no good speech. Many families think that by cutting the sublingual ligament, the non-speaking child will be able to talk. Or he hopes that the garbled speech will improve. The speech disorder that tongue tie can cause is only the difficulty in pronouncing some letters. However, speech
disorders are very diverse and therefore occur due to different reasons. These
issues need to be investigated before intervention is made.
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