Request an Appointment

Toggle navigation
  • blog
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
Upper Valley ENT & Allergy

256 N. 2nd E. Rexburg, ID 83440
(208) 656-9646 / (208) 656-9645 FAX

  • Staff
  • Office
    • Forms
      • Medical Release Form
  • Surgery Center
    • Pre Op Forms
      • Surgery Instructions
      • Welcome Letter
      • Patient Rights and Responsibilities
      • Financial Agreement
      • Advance Directive Policy
    • Post Op Forms
      • Post Op Baha Instructions
      • Post Op Ear Tube Instructions
      • Post Op Facial Fracture Repair Instructions
      • Drain Log
      • Post Op Head and Neck Surgery Instructions
      • Post Op Skin Lesions / Skin Cancer Removal Instructions
      • Post Op Tonsillectomy Instructions
      • Post Op Thyroidectomy Instructions
      • Post Op Nasal and/or Sinus Surgery Instructions
      • Upper Vallet ENT & Allergy - Verbal Instructions
    • Post Op Forms - Spanish
      • Post Op Facial Fracture Instructions (Spanish)
      • Surgery Instructions (Spanish)
      • Post Op Baha Instructions (Spanish)
      • Post Op Ear Tube Instructions (Spanish)
      • Post Op Head and Neck Surgery Instructions (Spanish)
      • Post Op Nasal and/or Sinus Surgery Instructions (Spanish)
  • Services
  • New Patients
    • New Patient Forms
      • Financial Information
      • Patient Demographics
      • Patient Rights and Responsibilities
  • Patient Education
  • Testimonials
  • Contact Us

Tongue-tie (Ankyloglossia)

Our team of specialists and staff believe that informed patients are better equipped to make decisions regarding their health and well being. For your personal use, we have created an extensive patient library covering an array of educational topics. Browse through these diagnoses and treatments to learn more about topics of interest to you. Or, for a more comprehensive search of our entire Web site, enter your term(s) in the search bar provided.

As always, you can contact our office to answer any questions or concerns.

Most of us think of tongue-tie as a situation we find ourselves in when we are too excited to speak. Actually, tongue-tie is the non-medical term for a relatively common physical condition that limits the use of the tongue, ankyloglossia.

Before we are born, a strong cord of tissue that guides development of mouth structures is positioned in the center of the mouth. It is called a frenulum. After birth, the lingual frenulum continues to guide the position of incoming teeth. As we grow, it recedes and thins. This frenulum is visible and easily felt if you look in the mirror under your tongue. In some children, the frenulum is especially tight or fails to recede and may cause tongue mobility problems.

The tongue is one of the most important muscles for speech and swallowing. For this reason having tongue-tie can lead to eating or speech problems, which may be serious in some individuals.

When Is Tongue-tie a Problem That Needs Treatment?

In Infants

Feeding

A new baby with a too tight frenulum can have trouble sucking and may have poor weight gain. Such feeding problems should be discussed with your child's pediatrician who may refer you to an otolaryngologist-head and neck surgeon (ear, nose, and throat specialist) for additional treatment.

NOTE: Nursing mothers who experience significant pain while nursing or whose baby has trouble latching on should have their child evaluated for tongue tie. Although it is often overlooked, tongue tie can be an underlying cause of feeding problems that not only affect a child's weight gain, but lead many mothers to abandon breast feeding altogether.

In Toddlers and Older Children

Speech

While the tongue is remarkably able to compensate and many children have no speech impediments due to tongue-tie, others may. Around the age of three, speech problems, especially articulation of the sounds - l, r, t, d, n, th, sh, and z may be noticeable. Evaluation may be needed if more than half of a three-year-old child's speech is not understood outside of the family circle. Although, there is no obvious way to tell in infancy which children with ankyloglossia will have speech difficulties later, the following associated characteristics are common:

  • V-shaped notch at the tip of the tongue
  • Inability to stick out the tongue past the upper gums
  • Inability to touch the roof of the mouth
  • Difficulty moving the tongue from side to side

As a simple test, caregivers or parents might ask themselves if the child can lick an ice cream cone or lollipop without much difficulty. If the answer is no, they cannot, then it may be time to consult a physician.

Appearance

For older children with tongue-tie, appearance can be affected by persistent dental problems such as a gap between the bottom two front teeth. Your child's physician can guide you in the diagnosis and treatment of tongue-tie. If he/she recommends surgery, an otolaryngologist-head and neck surgeon (ear, nose, and throat specialist), can perform a surgical procedure called a frenulectomy.

Tongue-tie Surgery Considerations

Tongue-tie surgery is a simple procedure and there are normally no complications. For very young infants (less than six-weeks-old), it may be done in the office of the physician. General anesthesia may be recommended when frenulectomy is performed on older children. But in some cases, it can be done in the physician's office under local anesthesia. While frenulectomy is relatively simple, it can yield big results. Parents should consider that this surgery often yields more benefit than is obvious by restoring ease of speech and self-esteem.


Learn More

  • Ears
  • Nose
  • Throat
  • Allergy
  • Pediatric
  • Surgery Center

Patient Education

Patient Education
  • Ears
    • Autoimmune Inner Ear Disease
    • Better Ear Health
    • Buying a Hearing Aid
    • Child's Hearing Loss
    • Child Screening
    • Cholesteatoma
    • Chronic Otitis Media
    • Cochlear Implants
    • Cochlear-Meningitis Vaccination
    • Day Care and Ear, Nose, and Throat Problems
    • Ear Infection and Vaccines
    • Ear Plastic Surgery
    • Ear Tubes
    • Earaches
    • Ears and Altitude
    • Earwax
    • How the Ear Works
    • Hyperacusis
    • Infant Hearing Loss
    • Know the Power of Sound
    • Noise-Induced Hearing Loss In Children
    • Noise and Hearing Protection
    • Perforated Eardrum
    • Pediatric Obesity
    • Quick Glossary for Good Ear Health
    • Swimmer's Ear
    • Tinnitus
    • Travel Tips for the Hearing Impaired
    • What You Should Know About Otosclerosis
    • When Your Child Has Tinnitus
    • Why Do Children Have Earaches?
    • Your Genes and Hearing Loss
  • Mouth and Throat
    • About Your Voice
    • Can the Medications I Take Harm My Voice
    • Common Problems That Can Affect Your Voice
    • Day Care and Ear, Nose, and Throat
    • Diet and Exercise Tips
    • Gastroesphageal Reflux (GERD)
    • GERD and LPR
    • Hoarseness
    • How Allergies Affect your Child's Ears, Nose, and Throat
    • How the Voice Works
    • Keeping Your Voice Healthy
    • Laryngeal (Voice Box) Cancer
    • Laryngopharyngeal Reflux and Children
    • Nodules, Polyps, and Cysts
    • Pediatric GERD
    • Pediatric Obesity and Ear, Nose, and Throat Disorders
    • Secondhand Smoke
    • Sore Throats
    • Special Care for Occupational and Professional Voice Users
    • Swallowing Disorders
    • Tips for Healthy Voices
    • Tonsillectomy Procedures
    • Tonsillitis
    • Tonsils and Adenoids
    • Tonsils and Adenoids PostOp
    • Vocal Cord Paralysis
  • Nose and Sinus
    • Allergic Rhinitis (Hay Fever)
    • Allergic Rhinitis, Sinusitis, and Rhinosinusitis
    • Allergies and Hay Fever
    • Antibiotics and Sinusitis
    • Antihistamines, Decongestants, and "Cold" Remedies
    • Are We Through With Chew Yet?
    • Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP)
    • Cleft Lip and Cleft Palate
    • Could My Child Have Sleep Apnea?
    • Day Care and Ear, Nose, and Throat Problems
    • Deviated Septum
    • Do I Have Sinusitis?
    • Facial Sports Injuries
    • Fungal Sinusitis
    • How Allergies Affect your Child's Ears, Nose, and Throat
    • Injection Snoreplasty
    • Laser Assisted Uvula Palatoplasty (LAUP)
    • Mouth Sores
    • Nasal Fractures
    • Nose Surgery
    • Nosebleeds
    • Pediatric Obesity
    • Post-Nasal Drip
    • Salivary Glands
    • Secondhand Smoke
    • Sinus Headaches
    • Sinus Pain
    • Sinus Surgery
    • Sinusitis
    • Sinusitis: Special Considerations for Aging Patients
    • Smell and Taste
    • Smokeless Tobacco
    • Snoring
    • Stuffy Noses
    • Tips for Sinus Sufferers
    • Tongue-tie (Ankyloglossia)
    • TMJ Pain
    • Tonsils and Adenoids
    • Your Nose: The Guardian Of Your Lungs
    • 20 Questions about Your Sinuses
  • Head and Neck
    • Bell's Palsy
    • Children and Facial Paralysis
    • Children and Facial Trauma
    • Cleft Lip and Cleft Palate
    • Dizziness and Motion Sickness
    • Facial Plastic Surgery
    • Facial Sports Injuries
    • Fall Prevention
    • Head and Neck Cancer
    • Pediatric Head and Neck Tumors
    • Sinus Pain
    • Sinusitis
    • Sinus Headaches
    • Thyroid Disorders and Surgery
    • TMJ
  • Cancer
    • Are We Through With Chew Yet?
    • Common Problems That Can Affect Your Voice
    • Head and Neck Cancer
    • Laryngeal (Voice Box) Cancer
    • Pediatric Head and Neck Tumors
    • Pediatric Thyroid Cancer
    • Quiting Smokeless Tobacco
    • Rhabdomyosarcoma
    • Secondhand Smoke
    • Skin Cancer
    • Smokeless Tobacco
  • Pediatric
    • Allergic Rhinitis (Hay Fever)
    • Child's Hearing Loss
    • Children and Facial Paralysis
    • Child Screening
    • Children and Facial Trauma
    • Cochlear-Meningitis Vaccination
    • Could My Child Have Sleep Apnea?
    • Day Care and Ear, Nose, and Throat
    • Facial Sports Injuries
    • How Allergies Affect your Child's Ears, Nose, and Throat
    • Laryngopharyngeal Reflux and Children
    • Noise-Induced Hearing Loss In Children
    • Pediatric Food Allergies
    • Pediatric GERD
    • Pediatric Head and Neck Tumors
    • Pediatric Obesity and Ear, Nose, and Throat Disorders
    • Pediatric Sinusitis
    • Pediatric Thyroid Cancer
    • Secondhand Smoke and Children
    • When Your Child Has Tinnitus
    • Why Do Children Have Earaches?
  • Información de Salud en Español

Our Location

256 N. 2nd E.
Rexburg, ID 83440
(208) 656-9646
(208) 656-9645 FAX


Map & Directions

Patient Portal


Click here to make a payment for our clinic or surgery center:

Make a Payment Here!

Rexburg, Upper Valley ENT & Allergy, Rexburg ID, 83440 (208) 656-9646 / (208) 656-9645 FAX

  • Home
  • Staff
  • Office
  • Services
  • New Patients
  • Patient Education
  • Contact Us
  • Patient Education
  • Copyright © MH Sub I, LLC dba Officite
  • Disclaimer
  • Patient Privacy
  • Notice of Nondiscrimination
  • Site Map