Regarding frenotomy:  I asked Dr. Greg Notestine, DDS about the current "do
it yourself" questions. Paraphrasing his words: in the nearby tissues are
some large blood vessels. If cut, they would bleed profusely. The infant
mouth is very small and difficult to work around in, babies squirm a lot,
and it would be very hard to control any profuse bleeding. Hitting one of
the blood vessels could be very dangerous to the baby.

Even as a skilled and experienced dentist who is licensed and highly trained
to perform some oral surgery, and has done hundreds of frenotomies, he says
he always worries about clipping too deeply into the tissue and hitting one
of the large blood vessels.

This reminds me of the story of the carpenter who was hired to fix a squeaky
floor. After examining the floor, he hammered one large nail in an exact
spot and sent the customer a bill for $1000. When questioned, he said $1 was
for the nail, and $999 was for knowing exactly where it should be placed.

My take on this: frenotomy is a simple procedure, but ONLY for those who are
highly knowledgeable about all aspects of oral anatomy AND trained and
qualified to perform minor surgery on infants. Experts always make complex
skills look easy.


Linda J. Smith, BSE, FACCE, IBCLC
Bright Future Lactation Resource Centre
Dayton, OH USA
http://www.bflrc.com

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