As it is known, the tongue performs important functions such as tasting, swallowing, directing food to the esophagus, cleaning the mouth, pronunciation and chewing.

As it is known, the tongue performs important functions such as tasting, swallowing, directing food to the esophagus, cleaning the mouth, pronunciation and chewing. Language, which is an extremely important organ, has been operating as the most necessary organ since the day a person was born.

Less development or thick formation of the ligament called frenulum, which helps the development of formations in the mouth while in the mother's womb, creates restrictions in movement. This disease, which is known as tongue tie among people, is also called ankyloglossia. In general, it is more common in boys than girls. As the child's age increases, the frenulum ligament shrinks and the problem it creates decreases.

A simple examination is necessary for the diagnosis of tongue tie. It is also important whether the baby has any feeding problems during the diagnosis. If the child is older, it is desirable to protrude the tongue in order to see how long the frenulum ligament is and to evaluate the softness. At this time, the child's mouth is open and his tongue touches the palate and the treatment is carried out in accordance with the determinations.

Children with tongue-tie problems may have difficulty sticking out their tongue, and this time the tongue bent inward takes a "V" shape. In order to evaluate the pronunciation disorder, children older than 3 years of age are asked to make sounds like “r, d, l, z, t, s” with the tip of the tongue. If your child has a tongue-tie problem, he will have difficulty making these sounds. In other words, it can be found whether there is a tongue tie or not because it is forced in this way.

Treatment of Tongue Tie

If the baby has a slight tongue tie and is fed regularly on a daily basis, treatment may not be needed. For this reason, it is recommended to intervene after determining whether the tongue tie detected in newly born babies poses a problem or not.

However, in cases that cause problems, there is no method other than surgical intervention. The probability of encountering complications such as infection or pain during tongue-tie surgery is negligible. As a normal surgical procedure, it takes 10-15 minutes. However, the healing of the problem area may take up to 2 hours.

Many of the families think that after the tongue tie is cut, the child will speak or his speech will improve. However, the speech disorder that can be caused by tongue-tie is only evident in some letters. Speech disorders can be of different types and have different causes. All these issues should be discussed and an agreement should be made with the family before the patient is treated.

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