Experience Painless Lip and Tongue Tie Treatments with Laser-Enhanced Dentistry

Is your newborn baby having difficulty latching, being fussy, or having trouble gaining weight? Or perhaps they are gassy or sometimes produce sounds when breastfeeding? These are common symptoms of a tongue tie or lip tie, which affects the tongue’s range of motion, resulting in poor feeding. 

Grandview Center for Dentistry in Edina, Minnesota, treats a tongue or lip tie by “releasing” the restricted tissue with minimally invasive laser treatment. Dr. Bridget Lervick has invested in laser-assisted frenectomies to help tongue-tied or lip-tied infants grow, develop, and thrive.

Understanding tongue and lip ties

Everyone has a tissue (frenum) that connects the tongue to the floor of the mouth. In cases where the frenum is thick, usually short, or otherwise malfunctioned, the patient is known to have a tongue tie or ankyloglossia. Restricted tongue movement can affect the child’s growth and development and the mother-baby nursing experience.

Lip ties are essentially the same thing as tongue ties. We all have a frenulum that connects the upper or lower lip to the gum tissue. Lip ties occur when the frenulum is thick, too short, or improperly developed, restricting the lip’s movements. As you’d expect, a lip tie affects speech, feeding, and other oral functions.

Health complications of lip and tongue ties

Lip and tongue ties can cause problems now or in the future. A restricted lip or tongue may cause poor breastfeeding, gas, colic, and prolonged nursing in the early days. The symptoms also manifest in the mother, including painful nursing and bloody or blistering nipples! 

Besides these unpleasant symptoms, a tongue or lip tie can significantly affect your baby’s oral development, often leading to the following complications:

• Speech impediments
• Sleep-disordered problems, like sleep apnea, snoring, and mouth breathing
• Poor feeding, resulting in underweight
• Poor facial development
• Orthodontic issues, including misaligned teeth
• Acidic reflux

A tongue tie may be present even without obvious breastfeeding problems. This way, it’s essential to have your child examined by a professional doctor to rule out oral issues that may affect your child’s health now and in the future.

Correcting a tongue or lip tie with laser dentistry

Treating a lip or tongue tie involves a simple surgical procedure called a frenectomy. The objective of the treatment is to “release” the frenum or frenulum for easier movement of the tongue or lip.

Traditionally, medical professionals use a scalpel to administer frenectomy. However, advancement in medical technology means traditional surgery isn’t the only option for treating tongue ties. 

Using minimally invasive laser dentistry, Dr. Lervick can “release” your tongue or lip tie without scalpels or scissors. The laser generates a focused, intense beam of light energy that removes or reshapes the restricted tissue. This treatment is minimally invasive and precise, resulting in less trauma on the surrounding tissues.

Benefits of treating lip and tongue ties with laser dentistry

Frenectomy at our office is completed within minutes, and the procedure doesn’t always require anesthesia. The benefits of laser treatments include:

• Non-invasive treatment
• Little to no side effects
• Improved healing time
• Natural-looking results
• Targets the afflicted tissues with precision
• Reduced risk of infection after treatment
• Laser frenectomy is safe for all patients, including infants

Frenectomy dentist near me

Now that you’ve seen the benefits of laser-assisted frenectomies, you want an office offering this revolutionary treatment. Grandview Center for Dentistry is committed to staying up to date with the latest technology for comfortable, safe, and effective dentistry. 

Call (952) 955-4505 to schedule an appointment with Dr. Lervick for a laser frenectomy. 

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