Ankyloglossia (commonly known as tongue-tie) is a minor congenital disorder in which the frenulum linguae restricts the movement of the tongue. It occurs when the frenulum either is too short and is pulled taut, or does not recede before birth and extends too far toward the tip of the tongue. The effects of ankyloglossia include a V-shaped notch at the tip of the tongue, not being able to stick one's tongue out, and/or being unable put the tongue on the roof of the mouth properly, inability to protrude the tongue past the upper gums (or incisors), and difficulty moving the tongue from side to side. In severe cases, babies may have trouble breast-feeding, certain words aren't pronounced correctly, and oral hygiene may suffer since the tongue cannot be used to clean the teeth. Babies with ankyloglossia are often given a frenotomy (also know as frenulectomy) , a procedure in which the excess frenulum is clipped, allowing for freer motion of the tongue; however, the surgery can be performed at any age.

Ankyloglossia is fairly common, occurring in 1 of every 2000 babies. It runs in families.

Opinions vary on the treatment of this condition. Because the tongue lengthens and thins until about age four, this condition may correct itself to some degree. Routine frenulectomy at birth was once common, but the recent trend has been to wait and see if the condition results in speech defects. The trend away from immediate treatment may correlate with the normalization of bottle-feeding, which is not affected by the condition. It may not be possible to determine that the condition is causing speech problems until a child is four years old or more.

For fewest complications, the ideal time to perform the surgery is early in life, when a simple clipping may be performed. In more severe cases, and later in life, the required surgery may require an operating room and use of techniques that prevent the formation of scar tissue.

Diseases

Ankyloglossia