Last April (2007) I listened to Brian Palmer lecture on tongue-tie in Ohio.
My dentist Dr. Greg Notestine (JHL 2000 article on frenotomy) attended to
meet with Brian, then offered to bring his own tongue-tie slides to my
course the following week. (I've been videotaping babies getting their TT's
released by Dr. Greg Notestine (DDS) for years.) During my course a local
mom brought her baby in for Dr. Notestine to evaluate, and he released the
baby's frenulum right there in class. Way cool! But wait, there's more. 

 

Greg had us adult women look in each other's mouths. Lo and behold, he took
one look at my mouth and did a double-take. He's been my personal dentist
for more than 10 years and neither one of us had even considered I might
have a posterior tongue tie. Bingo! Two months later he released mine in his
office while my husband Denny videotaped the entire procedure. Greg used an
anesthetic because mine was posterior and fibrous. No stitches were needed.
Greg is preparing to make a teaching video out of it. I took still photos of
the first few days afterward to document the healing process. 

 

I wrote this the following day:

 

Denny noticed the difference (improvement) in my speech immediately,
especially my "s" sounds, even before the numbness wore off. Today I notice
that swallowing is very different and easier. Watching the video played back
was an eye-opener. My tongue (before) looked quite thick and bunched,
exactly like many of the babies we see. My chin and mouth puckered a LOT
when I swallowed, something I had not been able to see on myself but that we
see on babies. Talking was easier yesterday afternoon, even though the wound
was still tender. 

 

Watching the procedure was fascinating. Mine was more fibrous than many of
the babies I've seen - Greg had to cut into stringy tissue that was thicker
than mucus membrane. There was a little bleeding (oozing) for a while that
direct pressure quickly controlled (I'm taking a NSAID for my hip
arthritis). The tight band opened up vertically and horizontally, like a
diamond. I could immediately sense the difference, even though the area was
numbed. He had initially cut into one side more than the other, and I could
sense the difference, and I still felt some restriction. He went back and
cut a little more in both sides, especially the tighter side to even them
up, and I noticed the difference immediately with more mobility and
symmetry. It looks like I have a hole under my tongue today, which is a
little weird. I've never been able to touch the tip of my tongue to my
palate before with my mouth open - now it's easy. Wow. This increased tongue
mobility is AMAZING! I had no trouble brushing my teeth or sleeping last
night.  Lunch and dinner yesterday consisted of milkshakes; today I'm back
to eating mostly normally. Advil worked well for pain relief yesterday
afternoon and evening. Today my mouth is only slightly sore, not enough that
I need to take pain relief. 

 

I became suspicious when one of my twin grandsons was born with a TT in
August 2005. Where did that come from? Since then I've learned that my
brother's first 2 kids were tongue-tied, my brother is probably tongue tied,
my sister is probably TT as well, and probably my mother and grandmother
too. (My mother told stories of how scrawny she was as a baby; my nephew
failed to thrive for 3 months.) I haven't pinned down my 32-year old son
(who lives with us but is rarely around) to check, but he had delayed speech
for many years. Now I want to look at him more closely! 

 

Linda J. Smith, BSE, FACCE, IBCLC

Bright Future Lactation Resource Centre Ltd.

6540 Cedarview Ct, Dayton OH 45459 USA

(937) 438-9458 / fax (937) 438-3229

 <http://www.BFLRC.com> www.BFLRC.com

 


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