"Labial frenectomy"...ya learn something new everyday!

sooner1981

So, we just got back from an appointment with a pediatric ENT doc. at Children's Hospital (where my husband works).  C got her top front teeth about two weeks ago, and we noticed that they were coming in with a gap in between.  When we opened her mouth, we saw a chord wrapped down the middle of her gums, from up by her lips across to the roof of her mouth.  The chord is called a "labial frenulum," and can cause problems with speech, orthodontic issues and future gum/teeth decay and disease.

At our appointment, the doc. immediately confirmed that there was definitely a significant frenulum issue, and scheduled a very small surgery called a "labial frenectomy" to remove that tether chord and ensure that she doesn't have to deal with any issues in the future.  The surgery itself will only be 5 minutes--but they have to use general anesthesia since she is so little.  Yuck! So, we scheduled it for early January. 

Has anyone else run into this?  I am sure that if my husband hadn't caught it, I never would have even thought twice about the gap between her front top teeth.  When I saw them growing in, I just assumed there was a gap because there were no other teeth pushing them together!

joie12

No advice, just anecdote: my grandmother had this, but they never did anything about it. It was so pronounced that it changed the shape of her tongue. And boy howdy did she have tooth issues.

I'm glad for her sake that they caught it so early, and I hope your LO is a champ through it!  (and that you and H are champs, too). 

jmccall79

I have heard of "it" but didn't know that there was an actual name for it...or surgery to correct it.  Ian's top teeth are coming in with a gap too...and there's a bit of 'gum' between them that's sticking out but it doesn't sound as significant as you've described. 

Bella61811

I think Audra has this. I asked her pediatrician about it at her 9 month appointment and he said not to worry about it right now. I read about all of the issues you just mentioned and I am still worried. Her pedi said that most of these problems fix themselves as they will "dissect" when a child hits their mouth on something when playing around or falling when learning to walk. Someone told me to go to a pediatric dentist but we don't have dental insurance so I'm not sure how much it would cost out of pocket. Ugh.

sooner1981

That "gum" piece--does it look like a little chord wrapping down over his gum back to the roof of his mouth and does it seem to be interferring with how his teeth are coming in? 

preggersINschool25

We still don't have any teeth, but Grant is being put under tomorrow, so I can relate to that part.

Bella61811

Do you think you'd be able to post a picture of what C's upper gum/teeth look like? I know it's hard. I'm really curious if it looks like Audra's. I've tried googling pictures but I just can't tell if it looks as severe as the babies in the picture haha. If you can't I will try and post a picture later of Audra's mouth. I am super worried now LOL.

sooner1981

Don't be worried!  Seriously, the doc. wasn't "worried."  This isn't a medical issue that you should be stressed about.  Just one of those things that could cause problems later, if not caught and fixed.  (and for the record, I looked at some baby pictures of me, and I look like I might have had the same thing--before I busted my face on my grandparent's couch around 18 months old and tore my frenulum, requiring a few stiches.  So, your doctor's advice probably was correct.) 

But our doc. just said that he thinks it is better to be safe than sorry--especially since many kids don't end up tearing it naturally, and you can't "control" how it is torn if it is just a fall.  Who knows--I am new to this, so I am just reporting what I heard today.

As for posting a picture--I will try to when I get home tonight, if C will let me, after so much mouth examination already today!

ETA:  Thoughts and prayers are with you and Grant tomorrow--let us know how it goes!

jmccall79

I know Ian's is nothing like you are describing...his looks more like fat, swollen gums sticking between the teeth.  There's no "chord" looking thing there.  I hope the surgery goes well and she doesn't have any pain from it.

jennysh

Lurker here but had to chime in.

DS had this and tongue tie long story with that but I'm on my phone. We recently got both fixed lip tie and posterior tongue tie from a pediatric dentist using a laser. We drove three hours because the advantages of the laser far out way the scalpel/GA of a surgeon. A great reference is Dr. Kotlow's website kiddsteeth.com. We didn't use this doctor but he is considered the expert in the field related to ties and breastfeeding. Another reference is a Facebook group called tongue tie babies. They have a great list of recommended doctors that use laser. That group tends to be hardcore about ties though so keep that in mind! Let me know if you have any questions!

preggersINschool25

I read more about this and as a kid mine ripped in a bike accident. It wasn't a problem with my teeth and it grew back or reattached at some point.

Bella61811

sooner1981:

Don't be worried!  Seriously, the doc. wasn't "worried."  This isn't a medical issue that you should be stressed about.  Just one of those things that could cause problems later, if not caught and fixed.  (and for the record, I looked at some baby pictures of me, and I look like I might have had the same thing--before I busted my face on my grandparent's couch around 18 months old and tore my frenulum, requiring a few stiches.  So, your doctor's advice probably was correct.) 

But our doc. just said that he thinks it is better to be safe than sorry--especially since many kids don't end up tearing it naturally, and you can't "control" how it is torn if it is just a fall.  Who knows--I am new to this, so I am just reporting what I heard today.

As for posting a picture--I will try to when I get home tonight, if C will let me, after so much mouth examination already today!

ETA:  Thoughts and prayers are with you and Grant tomorrow--let us know how it goes!

thanks!

pinkshades05

jennysh:

Lurker here but had to chime in. DS had this and tongue tie long story with that but I'm on my phone. We recently got both fixed lip tie and posterior tongue tie from a pediatric dentist using a laser. We drove three hours because the advantages of the laser far out way the scalpel/GA of a surgeon. A great reference is Dr. Kotlow's website kiddsteeth.com. We didn't use this doctor but he is considered the expert in the field related to ties and breastfeeding. Another reference is a Facebook group called tongue tie babies. They have a great list of recommended doctors that use laser. That group tends to be hardcore about ties though so keep that in mind! Let me know if you have any questions!

We got Nat's tongue tie clipped as well as her upper lip by an ENT. I second going to a laser dentist because I wish I did. When you clip it, it can grow back and it doesn't solve the problem of the gap between the teeth because the tissue is still there. A laser dentist will get all of the tissue. Nat still has the tissue and I think we will have to go back and get it lasered one day. Her teeth haven't come in, though, so I don't know what kind of a problem it is. Dr. Kotlow is a great source--I've heard my mom talk about him. This is defintiely something you should look into!

jja0812

I'm pretty sure Julian has this. His top front teeth started coming in a few weeks ago and there is a pretty significant gap in between. I haven't mentioned it to anyone because I didn't know if it was an issue or not (and we'd already had his 9 month appt by then) but now I think I'm going to have it checked out. Thank you for posting this! I have heard of a baby having his "tongue tied" but not this. I'm surprised, since it sounds like it's fairly common?

goldenleaves

Ryan had a right frenulum under his tongue. It was clipped at 5 days old. It wasn't enough and needed to be clipped under general anesthesia just before his 2nd birthday. It 100 affected his speech, so surgery was the right option for us.

ALane1128

My mom and her best friend had this. Well my mom had the gap and my grandparents had the dentist give her fake teeth to fill in the gap. Her best friend didn't do anything about it and still has the gap. They both saw speech therapists and are good to go now. My 7 year old niece has the same thing and they didn't clip hers. She has the gap and her speech isn't the greatest. She also sees a speech therapist. It isn't going well actually. They are looking into getting her teeth fixed like they did with my moms, but they want to wait till she gets her adult teeth. Because I'm familiar with this, I actually checked Jackson's a long time ago and his pedi agreed with me. However she wanted to wait till he was 1 or till his teeth came in to address the issue. When he was a couple weeks old, he actually had his tongue clipped because he was tongue tied. Thank goodness he will never remember all of this!!