Hi! I'm J., My little boy was tongue tied at birth. I have recently discovered that my son is still very much tongue tied. He cannot move his tongue off the bottom of his mouth. I need to find a doctor who will refer him for surgery to have it released.
Is this question for real? It looks a little suspicious (i.e. first post, "tongue tied")...I don't know, I'm a skeptic!
Welcome to mamapedia!!
How old is your son? What has been done so far to help him?
Is it his frenum (the piece of skin under the tongue) the problem or is there something else?
Why hasn't your pediatrician referred you to anyone? What does your pediatrician say about it? So many questions - not enough information from you.
PLEASE SEE YOUR PEDIATRICIAN!!
If his pediatrician can't do it, he will refer your son. It's not surgery. It's a simple clip on the frenulum tissue under his tongue. It's been awhile since I had experience. At that time,.the pediatrician did it.
How old is your baby? If he hasn't started talking, I doubt there is a need for a speech therapist or an ENT.
have you gone to your pediatrician for a referral? That's where I would start.
Find a speech therapist and a ENT that can examine him and find out what is the best course of action to take.
The decision to have the frenulum cut is based on whether it is impeding his feeding or making age-appropriate sounds. Please see your pediatrician for advice.
You should retitle this question and list your location or the nearest big city. Click the button that says your request is specific to your area. You won't get anything helpful from putting this out nationally.
And yes, get a referral from your pediatrician. If you don't like your pediatrician, get another one, at least for a second opinion. You might also ask your dentist since this is a mouth issue and he/she may know of people.
You can also contact a children's hospital if there is one in your area.
Can't you get a referral from his pediatrician, or whatever doctor diagnosed this condition?
Talk to your pediatrician.
Tongue tied is a real thing and a very simple little surgery. My father was an oral surgeon. I worked in his office for years and assisted in this surgery many times. You need to see an oral surgeon. Your dentist should be able to make a referral.
Hi J.,
I wish I had known about tongue-tie when I had my kids. It would have saved me a lot of anguish!
There are dentists who will do this with a laser nowadays. They do it for babies mostly. We ended up at an ENT's office at the speech therapist's recommendation. I found one place in your area that will cut the tongue-tie but it's hard to say whether or not they go far enough. http://www.troyohdentalimplants.com/cosmetic/gum-recontou...
Some dentists do not cut far enough to get all the benefits, just far enough so that they can breastfeed properly. Realizing that they need to cut farther is a newer discovery so many dentists won't know what you're talking about but one that is up-to-date on their research will.
Funnily enough, our ENT is from Ohio also. Maybe you could call him and see if he knows of someone good in your area? http://www.drghaheri.com/about/
I had the procedure done as well (isn't heredity grand?). It was quite a painless procedure but it feels weird. Kids get the gas. The most painful part is afterward, not at the incision site necessarily but the muscles, I think mostly because muscles are figuring out their new jobs so everything is achy.
Good luck and don't give up!
------ETA: Make sure you do tongue exercises afterward or see a speech therapist. If you don't, the tie can regrow and you have to do I again like we did :(
Talk to your dentist. A dentist can perform this procedure. It's quite easy and he will be in and out in an hour or two.
I agree with the advice to see a Children's Hospital if you aren't getting help from your pediatrician. It would be a "second opinion", and it would be in a place where they have all the specialists you would need, and you wouldn't have to figure out what specialist does this.
You haven't stated your son's age, but I assume that he is having trouble talking. You don't want to let this go, because he will end up needing speech therapy if you wait too long. The Children's Hospital can help you with this too.
i don't, because i don't live in ohio. i don't understand how you just 'recently discovered' that your child's frenulum is still attached. how is this coming as a surprise?
has your pediatrician not addressed the issue, made a recommendation or a referral?
khairete
S.
I would ask his pediatric dentist. We loved ours and I miss him now that the kids are older. He diagnosed and treated a lot of things.
