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Tongue-ties

What is a Tongue-tie?

Tongue-tie (ankyloglossia) is a condition present at birth that restricts the tongue's range of motion. A tongue-tie presents when a child has a short, thick or tight band of tissue (lingual frenulum). Depending on how much the tissue restricts tongue movement, it may interfere with breastfeeding, eating, or speaking.

  • Breastfeeding requires a baby to coordinate the nipple with their tongue. If a tongue-tie is present  the baby might chew instead of suck on the nipple. This can cause  nipple pain and interfere with a baby's ability to get breast milk and can lead to inadequate nutrition and failure to thrive.

  • Tongue-ties can impact a child's ability to coordinate their food and properly swallow due to restricted tongue movement. A child may struggle to lick an ice-cream or lollipop and may often bite the food instead.

  • Tongue-ties can interfere with the ability to make certain sounds — such as "t," "d," "z," "s," "th," "n" and "l", which require appropriate tongue elevation.

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Our Boca Raton Speech Therapists Can Help!

Symptoms:

  • Difficulty lifting the tongue to the upper teeth

  • Difficulty moving the tongue from side to side.

  • Trouble sticking out the tongue past the lower front teeth.

  • A tongue tip that appears  heart shaped when stuck out.​

Our Boca Raton Pediatric Speech Therapists assess and treat tongue-ties in children. We also provide pre- and post-operative therapy for tongue-ties.

 

If you would like to schedule your child for an evaluation please contact us here.

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