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General health

Tongue tie - do you have any experience of this?

13 replies

karen99 · 04/03/2004 10:43

Hi all, my ds has a tongue tie (or Ankyloglossia is it's technical term). I spoke to a couple of mums (via MN ) with children, partners or relatives with this condition, but would like to raise it again as there are so many new posters these days.

I think we've finally made the decision to get this corrected when DS is about 2.5/3yrs (currently 8mo) regardless of the standard blurb about only doing it if it effects eating/speech. There is a whole list of other, to us more important, reasons to undergo the op, but I am keen to hear from others who have been through this and if there are any surgeons in the UK that perform the corrective procedure(s). After searching endlessly on the web I'm only able to find decent info in Aus and the USA.

Any comments would be greatly appreciated. It's so difficult coming to these decisions about your little one and more info would be a great help.

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Twinkie · 04/03/2004 10:45

My best friend is tongue tied and so is one of her sons and it has never effected anything speech/health etc for either of them - just she can't poke her tongue out at me when I di it to her!!

The midwife said that they don't like correcting it unless there is a medical reason (like circumcision I presume) such as her son not being able to feed well or his speech is really really bad - but as I have said it is not a problem for either of them.

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twiglett · 04/03/2004 10:52

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outofpractice · 04/03/2004 10:53

My good friend's son who is now 5 had this which Nursery brought to her attention as it was affecting his speech development ie he was becoming very quiet and shy and self-conscious, not keen to talk, and his words were very unclear. They went private to Harley St because of long NHS waiting list; he had it done and either came home that day, or only spent one night in the clinic. I saw him the next week fine wth a big balloon from the clinic and lively and his speech dramatically improved from that time on. He was 3 or 4 when it was done.

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karen99 · 04/03/2004 10:58

Hi Twinkie. Thanks for replying so quickly. It's reassuring to hear they don't have a problem.

I guess I should have listed a few of the other things that can happen with a TT as they may be present in other TT-people but they don't realise it's related to their TT.

Poor dental health, particularly weak front teeth.
Poor dental hygiene as you can't 'clear' your mouth of foodstuffs between your gums and teeth (bad breath and gum disease)
Digestive problems due to poor chewing and swallowing
Possibly unable to swallow pills
And then the cosmetic and "play" reasons
If you also have a tight frenulum (stringy bit) between your top lip and front teeth (as with my DS) you will always have a significant gap between your top front teeth
Apparently it very rarely effects speech and very rarely corrects itself.

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karen99 · 04/03/2004 11:00

Hi OOP - sorry, posts crossed. DS is on DH's private cover, so that could be an option. Hadn't even thought about Harley St. (and I'm in London!!). Thanks for this.

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Kay1 · 04/03/2004 13:42

my ds had tt - spotted immediately by midwife at birth. We had all the advice to leave it as it may sort itself out and it didn't affect him feeding, but (for all reasons you suggest - also realisation that he would never be able to lick an ice cream!) decided to seek further advice as we were mainly worried it might affect speech development later on. At his 12 month check, we asked GP to refer on and we saw a consultant (NHS) within a couple of months. He was very helpful and supportive and put his name on waiting list - expected to wait 12-18 months but actually got date very quickly and he had the op at 20 months.

He had general anaesthetic which i worried about at the time but Op itself was very quick - he was only in theatre about 10 mins in total until he came round again and he was immediately fine. They sort of cauterise the wound and we just had to stay in hospital for a few hours to check he was ok following anaesthetic. He's now 5 and i'm really pleased we had it done - speech etc is fine and he still can't stick his tongue out as far as others but can definately lick ice creams!!

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KeepingMum · 04/03/2004 13:55

My ds also has tongue-tie (now nearly three). We had all the same advice and decided to leave it as it didn't affect feeding and doesn't seem to have affected speech too much. I do worry about the dental aspect though and am considering whether we get it done. I can't bear the thought of putting him through a GA when it might not be totally necessary and he wouldn't really understand. Also think he might need to be circumcised (are they related? dh had both done). I have seen dentists who will do it (and the top one).

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karen99 · 04/03/2004 15:27

Hi Kay1 & Keepingmum. I'm glad both your boys are doing well (BTW, TT is also more common in boys 3:1 ratio! didn't know that until yesterday!). It's nice to hear first hand experience.

We too are worried about the GA but think the benefits most likely out weigh this, plus I've read that it is so quick (like Kay1 says). It just frustrates me that no-one advised (not even the consultant we saw when ds was 4mo) about the potential dental problems or swallowing (even snoring & sleep apnea has been mentioned in articles I've read). Ds is already saying "da da da" and has most likely learnt how to compensate for his tongue restriction in relation to speech.

Kayleigh (MN poster) gave me this link to have a look at (hope you don't mind me posting it Kayleigh!)

Off that is this link which really made our minds up for us.

I hope they help you Keepingmum. I think we'll ask for a consultant referral at 12mo too and see what comes up through the NHS. However, it would be helpful to know of other surgeons who have done this type of op before. Kay1 - would you mind letting me know who, or atleast where, you arranged your ds's op? Or I can contact you via MN?

Thanks again

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karen99 · 04/03/2004 15:33

Hi twiglett - sorry - completely missed your post when scrolling up and down. Thanks for the info. Can I ask why your friend decided to get it done so early - eg. were there feeding problems?

Everyone (drs etc) keeps saying it will correct itself eventually but I've yet to hear of this! (except for one who replied last time I posted in Sept(?) saying it was cut by a toy her ds (dd?) was chewing on)

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Kayleigh · 04/03/2004 16:34

don't mind at all Karen99

I'm the same as you keepingmum. My ds2 is 2.8 and we have decided against having it done for the time being as I don't want to put him through a GA. We have a dental appointment in a few weeks and I am going to speak to my lovely dentist and see what she says about the dental aspect, as to be honest that is the only thing that concerns me at the moment.

We have read a number of articles, consulted a speech therapist and seen two consultants. The consultant we saw most recently was very helpful and helped us make up our minds about this.

Just to add ds2 can eat an ice cream faster than anyone I have ever met - so I have no concerns there

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stace · 04/03/2004 19:21

Hi karen, just found your thread and yet again as a new mumsnetter cant get over the similarities all us mums go through and the support that this site offer for us all.

OK my DS now 4 born TT, Gastric reflux, big problems eating solids (Lumpy inconsistent varieties) spoke to top Paediatrician (HA HA!!) was told to get referred for speech therapy in order to pick up any early problems but also because they would help with the eating side of stuff. Were refered NHS quite quickly and I became obsessively neurotic about his speech and food. Private paed advised to wait on any op and told 'he'll probably have his tonsils and adenoids done at 4 or 5, we can just do it at the same time' Personally worked really hard on the speech side of things to the point that his teachers are now incredibly impressed with his speech and vocablurary, so no problems there, actually dont think he had any problems there he was just too young for us to know.

The ST gave lots of ideas to encourage him to use and work and excercise his tongue, blowing into a straw of water. licking chocolate strands (cake decorations) Jam whatever off of hands really just getting messy with food. licking ice creams having races to see who can lick things longest etc. and i have to say that now at age 4 apart from the fact that he cant poke his tongue out at anyone (which could be a blessing) he can now turn and curl it and lick everything, he just licks with a thick short tongue instead of a long thin one. Other side of the coin my brother is 39 and TT and he said if it was his child he would have it done and he thinks it has always affected his confidence. Finally to give you the whole picture One other person (cant remember their qualification) told me that i can be a tricky op as there is a very major vein running close by.
Good luck with your decision, i will be avidly watching this thread. Hope my long winded bit was of some help to you.

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miggy · 04/03/2004 21:22

I was tonguetied as a baby. Noone noticed till I was about 18mths and my mum realised I couldnt lick an ice cream cornet. Had the op done, v straightforward, problem solved. No lasting damage (no one has old me otherwise anyway !)

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karen99 · 04/03/2004 22:10

Thx kayleigh, stace, miggy. Really appreciate your input. I agree exercise is the key with or without the op. Arrgh, this is such a difficult one!

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