The neighbor was a four-year-old girl named Hanhan, round, pink, with long, large eyelashes.
It's just that Hanhan can't open her mouth now, her speech is slurred, and her communication with classmates and teachers is very unsmooth, which also makes Hanhan's mother have a headache.
Hanhan's mother, who had heard that making an incision under the base of her tongue would cure her pronunciation.
I asked Hanhan to try to stick his tongue forward, up, and out, but found that his tongue was a little short, and the tip of his tongue was not sharp, in a "W" shape, as if someone was pulling his tongue.
Han Han couldn't say anything, probably because the tongue tie was relatively short.
What is tongue frenulation? How can parents know the correct length of their child's tongue tie? Today, I want to talk to parents.
01When is the length of the tongue tie shortest?
First, let's look at the structure of the tongue.
When you open your mouth and straighten your tongue, you can see a small line that extends from under your tongue to your mouth, which is the tongue frenulum.
The tongue tie is a type used to fix the base of the tongue and prevent the tongue from dangling in the mouth.
There are many factors that cause the tongue frenulum to be too short, but not all factors can be explained clearly, and it may also have a certain relationship with genes.
"Frenulum of the tongue" can be roughly divided into two categories:
First, because the anterior frenulum is too short, that is, the frenulum is tightly attached to the tip of the tongue;
Second, the posterior tongue frenulum is too short, that is, the attachment site of the tongue frenulum is normal, but thicker and shorter, which affects the activity of the tongue to some extent.
We can compare the tongue to a puppet, and the "tongue ring" as one of the ropes that manipulate the puppet; When the strap of the tongue is too short, whether the strap of the "rope" is tied incorrectly, or the strap of the "rope" is too long or too thick, the puppet (tongue) cannot function freely.
02Is this situation related to short tongue?
Too short tongue frenulum will affect the child's language development and pronunciation, as well as breastfeeding difficulties, maxillofacial deformities, psychological disorders and other problems.
(1) Problems with breastfeeding
Too short tongue frenulum can lead to breastfeeding disorders because, usually, the child sucks the mother's nipples on the gums with his tongue. If your baby's tongue tie is too short, it may prevent your baby's tongue from sticking forward and fusing with the gums, making breastfeeding difficult.
If it is exclusive breastfeeding, if there is a problem with breastfeeding, it will have a great impact on the growth and development of the baby and the mother's milk production.
Not every baby with a short tongue tie has breastfeeding problems.
Therefore, if parents have this situation, the first thing that should come to mind is the tongue frenulum, and if there are no other circumstances, the possibility of short tongue frenulum cannot be ruled out.
(2) Incomplete pronunciation
Too short tongue frenulum will seriously affect the elasticity of the tongue, resulting in children can not speak syllables well, especially those that need to upturn or bite the tongue, because children's pronunciation is inaccurate, which will affect children's language development.
(3) Dental diseases
Because the tongue tie is too short, the tongue cannot move flexibly, so it can not be well cleaned by the tongue, such as licking the lips, removing food residues from the teeth, etc., and leaving some oral hygiene dead spots on the cheek surface and upper jaw.
In the long run, it will lead to a series of oral diseases such as periodontal disease, gingivitis, and dental caries.
(4) Maxillofacial hypoplasia
Too short a tongue tie can cause teeth confusion and affect facial morphology.
Tongue frenulum is too close together, which can easily cause gum recession and cause bone loss.
(5) Hinder tongue movement
Babies with too short tongue straps should not enjoy delicious ice cream slowly like other babies; Play the flute and play touching tunes.
(6) Mental disorders
Too short tongue frenulum may cause problems in the child's language development, which is not well handled, will affect the child's communication in society, and may cause the child to have psychological problems such as low self-esteem, social disorders, irritability and irritability for a long time.
03Under what conditions can I cut the tongue tie?
Surgery is not necessary in children with short tongue frenulum.
Pediatric tongue hypoplasia (BTAT<3), accompanied by lactation difficulties, maxillofacial deformities, etc., requires early surgical intervention.
The doctor will have a certain impact on the baby's growth based on the baby's age, the length of the tongue tie, and the baby's quality of life.
For infants with too short tongue frenulum, you can pay more attention when there is no difficulty in lactation, and as the child gets older, the phenomenon of too short tongue frenulum will gradually disappear.
summary
For infants and young children who have difficulty breastfeeding, tongue frenulum correction needs to be done in time to avoid adverse effects on the child's growth and development and nutritional status.
The so-called surgical treatment is tongue frenulum correction, that is, what Hanhan's mother called "scissors", the operation method is: fix the upper end of the tongue tie and pull it upward, and then use the tip of the scissors to cut the tongue frenulum to the root. In addition to surgery, you can also do physical therapy, speech training, oral and facial muscle function therapy, etc.
Parents should pay attention to the early detection of tongue band problems, in order to make early diagnosis and timely treatment!