The Tongue & Lip Tie Team

Babies with a tongue tie, may have issues, such as:

• Trouble latching on or staying attached to your breast
• Feeding for a long time, having a short break, then feeding again
• Being unsettled and seeming hungry all the time
• Failing to gain weight as quickly as they should
• Making a “clicking” sound when feeding
• Excessive gassiness

When feeding from a bottle, a baby predominantly uses the middle part of their tongue, so it is not as important for the tip of the tongue to be mobile. If the tongue tie is affecting feeding, the following signs may be present:

• Excessive drooling
• Poor weight gain
• Taking a long time to feed
• Excessive gassiness

Your baby won’t necessarily have all the signs mentioned if they are having problems with breastfeeding or bottle feeding due to a tongue tie or lip tie. But, if your baby is experiencing any of the signs above, or you feel concerned that your baby may have a tongue tie or a lip tie, you may want to discuss it with your GP, midwife, paediatrician or breastfeeding specialist.

Tongue tie can sometimes cause problems such as speech difficulties, difficulty eating certain foods and difficulty cleaning teeth. Some other problems are appearance-related, such as a wide gap between the bottom two front teeth, or a V-shaped notch in the end of the tongue.

Check with a speech and language therapist if more than half of a three-year-old child’s speech is not understood by people outside of the family, or if the child has difficulty licking an ice cream cone.

It is possible that latching will be a struggle at first, since we would use a small amount of anaesthetic to complete the procedure. The numbness will wear off about 30-45 minutes afterwards, so do not be alarmed if latching is difficult at first.

Tongue ties can vary in severity and can include what we call a “posterior tongue tie”, which may require a few weeks of practice before you see the benefits of the frenectomy.

We recommend to be thorough with the prescribed post-treatment exercises and to work with a lactation consultant and an osteopath to achieve optimal results and avoid reattachment.

Is your child’s lingual tongue tie or lip tie causing discomfort, or limiting their ability to eat, speak or swallow? Complete the form or call us to arrange your appointment.

• Tongue-tie typically affects boys more often than girls.
• Tongue-tie is not the only reason for breastfeeding difficulty.
• Sometimes tongue-tie does not cause speech delay, but can affect a child’s speech articulation - the ability to form sounds and pronounce words.
• Tongue-tie diagnoses are increasing as breastfeeding becomes more commonplace.

We treat from newborns to teenagers and even adults at our American Smile clinic for mums and dads.

All patients are booked for diagnosis with our oral surgeon for the consultation (£175 that stands with or without treatment) and where appropriate, we have enough time for the release (£415 for one release - £520 for both tongue and lip tie releases). We will then invite you for a post-procedure review (£115) 1-2 weeks later to ensure the healing is progressing well.

Go ahead and book your consultation online here and we'll follow up with a questionnaire and consent pack

If you wish, we can offer an online consultation if more convenient - simply book here and add the note VIRTUAL so we may send the Zoom link across.

Unfortunately we only carry out these procedures at our clinic in Chelsea, Sloane Square with Dr. Suraj Vatish.

Dr Suraj (DDS Imp Dent RCS(Ed), Cert Perio RCS, Implant Surgeon with special interest in Oral Surgery & Periodontics) started providing Frenectomy releases at our practice 3 years ago and has carried out 500+ procedures to date, with great success using the CO2 laser we have in house.

In terms of compliance we unfortunately cannot offer full sedation (General Anaesthetic) with this kind of treatment - however in our experience we have completed many procedures with great success as the laser procedure is so fast and our staff are specifically trained to treat children. We also use a topical numbing gel on the treatment area to make it even more comfortable.

We often ask parents to lie in the dental chair with the child on your front, your arms across them to help keep them still - we do not pin down or force any treatment without their cooperation or your consent.

We can however, for over 3s, offer Inhalation Sedation and for over 6s, Intravenous Sedation - this will be planned for on your consultation and booked for another day.

They will not feel the pain no, as the numbing gel is strong and works incredibly fast - but of course it's not so pleasant for them and they usually do cry as this it feels uncomfortable and they'll need to be as still as they can.

The procedure is quick and clean without bleeding - it is very rare, but for older children (5+) a stitch may be required, to aid with the healing process.

Complete tissue healing takes 6 weeks, but they will feel their normal selves within 3-5 days, that means it may be uncomfortable or sensitive for a few days after their treatment.

Yes they may eat and drink straight after the procedure, just be mindful that they may be still numb so watch out for biting their cheek or tongue when chewing and stick to soft foods for the first 3-5 days - ice cream is particularly good for healing!

Here are some links that demonstrate how to complete the massages from the evening of the procedure until your review - Dr Suraj will of course show you before you leave.

• Newborns
• Toddlers / children
• Teens

One drop of Vitamin E oil on the treated area when massaging can really help the healing - here's the brand we recommend.

Do NOT exceed more than 6 hours in between stretches, and you do not need to wake your child to complete the exercises overnight.

With successful exercises and the efficiency of the laser, re-attachments are very rare - if it does occur however, the surgeon will notify you and we may re-release on your review appointment or we'll ask you to come back after the healing is complete, then re-release - Dr Suraj will discuss this with you.