Allyson Wessells wrote that the dentist her client will see doesn't perform
frenectomies on babies till age 10 weeks, and Tania Archbold in Canada
mentions practitioners who wait till 8 weeks. This followed a discussion of
a baby with a tight labial (lip) frenum.
One of my clients had already seen a paediatric dentist about her baby's
very thick, tight labial frenum that extended over the gum and to the hard
palate. Because of the severity and the need for plastic surgery, the
dentist arranged to see them at age 12 months. I imagine there were clinical
reasons for this. Meantime, the mother had to cope with the effect on
breastfeeding, which was why she saw me. This family, like so many, was
trying to fit in various appointments on a short visit to the city from a
regional area. 
It is very difficult to find dentists here in Brisbane who perform this
soft-tissue surgery. I'm thankful that most of the babies I see with tight
upper lips have enough stretch for the mothers to be able to roll the lip
out after latching at the breast. The pain level then drops. It is the
occasional baby with a very thick, tight band of tissue that is of concern
as regards finding a dentist who will clip early. (They have to rely on
their professional clinical judgment, the same as we do.)
Some of these babies, especially if there is also a tongue tie, don't
bottle-feed well, either spilling milk from their mouths or being unable to
control the flow and going "glurgh, glurgh, glurgh". (I shudder to think
what the oxygen sats are when they do this!)
Virginia

Dr Virginia Thorley, OAM, PhD, IBCLC, FILCA 
Brisbane, Qld, Australia 
 
------------------------------

Date:    Sat, 23 Jul 2011 19:24:55 -0400
From:    Tania Archbold < >
Subject: 
And I have run into Practitioners who will only do them on babies under 8
weeks of age. I think it completely depends on their training and comfort
level. 

Tania Archbold B.Sc., IBCLC. LLLL
Ontario Canada
Www.mothersnectar.ca

On 2011-07-23, at 18:42, Allyson Wessells < > wrote:

> Hi,
> 
> Thanks for the helpful replies! According to the mother, this particular
dentist does not perform frenectomies until a baby is 10 weeks. Ever heard
of this timeframe for such a procedure?
> 
> Allyson
> 
>             ***********************************************

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