labial frenulum...(vent)
Today DS woke up with thrush all throughout his mouth. He's never had thrush before, so I called the pedi to get him in.
Once we got to the pedi, I was wondering if it was really thrush because he had eaten some cherrio's and the white patches were pretty much gone from his tongue but had a few on his inner lips. What was weird was that then I went to check on his upper lip I couldn't really pull it back, as it is connected about a 1/4 inch wide down in between his teeth. I never really noticed this before because I haven't needed to check under his upper lip.
He did have thrush and was given nystatin solution, but she also said he has a low labial frenulum, and a very high palate in his mouth. She asked if he has had trouble eating/swallowing, and I told her he still hardly eats finger foods or our foods, and will often open his mouth to let it fall out, and sometimes he chokes on it. She said that she wanted him to see a ENT specialist right away, as the frenulum can cause a lot of difficulties, especially with speech. The pedi also said that it was most likely why he wasn't able to latch on during BF, as well as why he couldn't latch onto a small bottle nipple and always had to have a playtex wide nipple. And apparently is why he has had trouble using any type of sippy as he can't really put his mouth around the spout to suck anything out. Makes me feel a bit better that he still uses bottles, but I'm kinda nervous about the appt.
So he has an appt. on July 13th. Has anyone else's LO had this problem? I've heard of the "tongue-tied" situation, which this seems to be a twist off of that, and is called "lip-tied". The pedi said the ENT will evaluate and most likely do a frenectomy where they put him under, then snip/clip it and suture it up.
Sorry for the vent and if you have any info it would be appreciated...thanks!
Re: labial frenulum...(vent)
My DD fell against the footboard of our bed, and even though it is padded, it pushed a tooth through the gum that wasn't quite through yet. I took her to the pediatric dnetist and they said it was no big deal, but then she has a small gap between her front teeth, so they wanted to do a frenectemy very soon.
I decided I didn't want to do it, because I know people who had it done much later in life (like in their teens) if the tooth gap was still an issue... I don't think it's a big deal but for the sake of vanity I wasn't too concerned (and I had a gap when I was a kid, but now my teeth are really tight).
No one ever said anything about palates or anything else.. and my DD didn't have issues with bottles or eating.
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Thanks for your reply. I hope that it's really not that big of a deal. Both of DS teeth are through and they have a big gap, which I'm not that worried about. I'm more worried with his speech than anything else, because it is hard for him to move his upper lip, although I didn't really pay attention as much to it as I do now. And if I try to pull the lip back to look under he screams as if it hurts. Not sure if he just gets mad because I'm touching his mouth, or if it actually hurts though.
Gavin had a frenulectomy when he was five days old. He wasn't able to latch properly either, and I'm glad my pedi caught it when he was that small.
He wasn't put under, and the doctor's just took an instrument, place it under his tongue and snipped. He barely let out a cry, and he only bled for a few seconds.
I don't regret having the procedure done, as a short frenulum can lead to a speech impediment, and it would have greatly hindered my chances of breastfeeding him. HTH!
I actually experienced this issue myself. When I was little, my Mom had a hard time nursing me but back in the 70's, they weren't looking for this type of problem. Thankfully, I didn't have any type of speech problems, or eating problems.
I ended up having a frenectomy in my mid-twenties due to lower gum issues. They clipped the frenum, and took a small peice of my upper palate to "patch" the tissue right under my lower front teeth. They did this because sometimes the frenum can grow back. I had my surgery done at a Periodontist's office.
Recovery wasn't too bad, and there wasn't a ton of pain afterward.
Hope this helps (at least from an adult prospective). It's minor surgery, but it sounds like this will make a huge difference for your DS!