Tongue-Tie Treatment
Tongue-tie is a condition present at birth that restricts the tongue’s mobility. Although most children have their tongue-ties treated in adolescence, it’s not unheard of for adults to suffer from tongue-tie without ever having a treatment in their past. Although treating tongue-tie as young as possible is preferred, it can still drastically increase the quality of life for adults who have tongue-tie.
Common symptoms of tongue-tie in adults
Poor Oral Health
When your tongue has limited mobility, it becomes difficult to remove food and debris from the teeth after eating. Tongue tie can also cause an ugly gap between the bottom front teeth. Adults with tongue-tie may experience frequent cavities, gum inflammation, gum disease, bad breath, and other oral health problems.
Mouth Breathing
Tongue-tie can also affect your ability to breathe through your nose. When tongue-tie is present, it can prevent the upper palate from developing large or high enough. As a result, there is not enough space for nasal breathing. Mouth breathing can result in an increased risk of cavities and gum disease because it can cause dry mouth.
Sleep Apnea
Sleep apnea causes the body to stop breathing repeatedly, as often as 30 - 50 times per hour, throughout the night. Tongue-tie can cause sleep apnea as a result of an underdeveloped palate which can cause a smaller airway. When someone with a smaller palate goes to sleep, they’re at a higher risk of their upper airway collapsing – which is the cause of sleep apnea.
Sleep apnea can cause daytime sleepiness, morning headaches, difficulty concentrating, memory problems, depression, and irritability. Without treatment, it can also increase the risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, high blood pressure, and more.
TMJ Dysfunction
When the tongue is unable to move in a full range of motion, the mouth naturally adapts to cope. One of the ways the mouth copes is by swallowing incorrectly. With consistent incorrect swallowing, teeth can become misaligned and the jaw will develop incorrectly. The misaligned teeth and jaw development issues can cause an imbalance in the jaw joints, resulting in TMJ disorders.
Speech Issues
With a tongue that’s unable to move in a free range of motion, articulating “T”, “D”, “Z”, “S”, “Th”, “R”, and “L” sounds can be difficult and cause speech issues in not just adults with tongue-tie, but all ages.
Treatment options
Therapeutic exercises
Myofunctional therapy is often recommended before tongue tie release surgery in adult patients because it can help improve the function and coordination of the tongue and other orofacial muscles, leading to better outcomes.
Surgery
A frenectomy or frenuloplasty is a surgical procedure that can correct tongue ties. A frenuloplasty is a more extensive surgery that's done under general anesthesia. Frenectomy can be done in a dental office. Following the procedure, you may need further dental work to remedy the effects of untreated tongue-tie.
