The doctors of Poulsbo Children's Dentistry offer pediatric dentistry to help keep your child’s teeth and gums at their healthiest. Part of this dental process includes whole mouth care. The team at Poulsbo Children's Dentistry offers laser frenectomy to help treat tongue-tie children in Poulsbo, WA.
Tongue Tie defined
Tongue-tie refers to a defect in the frenum, a piece of soft tissue that connects the tongue to the gums and lips. A too tight or too short frenum results in difficulty swallowing, breastfeeding, or speech development. While it once required surgery to clip the frenum and stitches, today, laser frenectomy can now fix the problem in seconds without surgery.
Any of the doctors at Poulsbo Children's Dentistry can perform a laser frenectomy. In Poulsbo, WA, you can visit Dr. Self or any of her colleagues to help your child. Most individuals have their tongue-tie treated while they remain infants. The laser procedure takes just a few minutes, and the dentist can perform it in the office. You do not need to make a hospital visit for this procedure.
Why Quick Treatment Is Important
Most parents take their child to the dentist early in life for treatment of the problem because tongue-tie can lead to so many other problems. Children could develop any of the following conditions or problems if the frenum isn’t clipped:
- Mouth abnormalities in the mouth,
- Swallowing discomfort,
- A gap frenum tear, referring to abnormal development of the upper two front teeth,
- Create a gap between the two front teeth,
- Breastfeeding or nursing problems leading to low- or slow-weight gain,
- Abnormal jaw development can cause mouth breathing and snoring,
- Speech issues,
- Inability to fully extend the tongue,
- Tooth root exposure is when the gum tissue pulls away from the base of the teeth.
Contact Poulsbo Children’s Dentistry Today
Contact Poulsbo Children’s Dentistry about a laser frenectomy in Poulsbo, WA to address your child’s frenum. Call us at (360) 779-7115 to make an appointment today.