Here is a list of symptoms to look for in your child:

• Insufficient weight gain
• Blisters on lips
• Noisy feeding, sometimes described as a “clicking” sound
• Curling tongue while feeding
• Behaviors similar to acid reflux
• Persistent fussiness
• Pain for the mother during nursing
• Consistent mouth breathing where the lips are apart, even slightly
• Chapped lips
• Crowded teeth
• Front teeth that don’t touch
• Thumb-sucking
• Restless, tossing and turning quality of sleep
• Snoring, clenching and grinding teeth while sleeping
• Enlarged tonsils and adenoids, including sinus and ear infections
• Dark circles under the eyes and signs of daytime tiredness
• Tongue thrust and/or Over-exertion used when swallowing
• Bed wetting, picky eating, or allergies
• Daytime sleepiness
• Hyperactivity or signs of ADD/ADHD

Of course, your children are perfect as they are! While we do not intend to change how a child looks, there is a benefit to positively influencing facial development in the early years of life. By the time a child reaches puberty, the bulk of their facial development will be complete.

In addition to aesthetics, facial growth plays a major role in airway, which is an essential factor of health and development. Without proper nasal breathing, lip seal and tongue positioning, the craniofacial structure changes negatively. This can result in something called mid-face deficiency and lead to an overly-long face.

One of the most commonly asked questions we get is, “What can we expect after the surgical release of our baby’s tongue tie?”

While every baby is different, we always recommend lots of skin-to-skin, snuggling and on-demand nursing.

Following a tongue-tie release, we recommend a series of post-operative stretching exercises for optimal healing. By stretching the wound as it heals, we can control the rate at which it heals and the shape in which it heals.

Ideally, these stretches are performed roughly every 3 hours. We recommend creating a routine that works for your family and is easy to maintain, such as during every diaper change.

Learn more about frenectomy aftercare.

As parents, we all want what is best for our children. That means a balance of finding the most effective interventions that make them healthy and happy. But that needs to be balanced with practical matters: time, expense, mental/emotional capacity and more. In the case of disordered breathing and airway development, it’s critical to understand that proactivity matters. So many lifelong struggles can be avoided with relatively easy, early action on the part of parents.

By examining, diagnosing and treating our youngest patients, we can achieve many benefits:

• Set the stage for proper facial growth,
• Avoid more complex, costly issues in adulthood (sleep apnea, dental complications, jaw surgery, etc.).
• Prevent crowded and crooked teeth, avoiding unnecessary and harmful extractions.

Many things have changed since we were kids. We now know more, and we know better. In addition to more comprehensive research on the topic, a variety of physiological, nutritional and environmental changes over time have influenced airway development. So no, your parents likely did not think of these things when you were a child, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t address the pressing needs of our children as they present themselves today.

Untethered Airway Health and Tongue-Tie Center is a “fee for service” practice, which means all fees associated with an appointment are due at time of service.

We have chosen to be out-of-network with all insurance plans so insurance companies cannot dictate the type of treatment we offer. This also allows us ample time to spend with our patients.

That said, as courtesy we will happily submit to your insurance (medical and dental) to help you get reimbursed.