Tongue-Tie and Lip-Tie Release
What Is a Tongue-Tie and a Lip-Tie?
Around 10% of children are born with some degree of frenum restriction, also known as tongue-tie or lip-tie.
This means that their tongues and lips are attached to the mouth with excessive connective tissue webbing.
This excess tissue impedes the movement of the tongue or lips, causing many problems:
- Inability to stick your tongue past your front teeth (such as licking your ice cream cone)
- Difficulties to nurse during infancy
- Significant speech impediments later in life
When this restricted mobility interferes with nursing, bottle feeding, or causes discomfort to mother or child, Dr. Christopher Peterson may recommend a laser release.
For children, adolescents, and adults who do not undergo tongue-tie release in infancy, later complications may include: impaired oral hygiene, cavities, speech impediments, and airway problems including mouth breathing, snoring, sleep apnea, sleep-disordered breathing, and even recurring ear infections.
What Are the Symptoms of a Tongue and Lip-Tie?
Worried you or your child is experiencing a lip-tie or tongue-tie?
Call our office to setup a consultation or fill out the form below!
Infant Tongue & Lip Tie Forms (0-13 months)
Are you having trouble breastfeeding your infant?
We are the only dental office with a Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) in the state!
Why Choose De Pere Smiles For Tongue-Tie and Lip-Tie Treatment?
For Dr. Peterson, it’s personal.
Dr. Peterson has a passion and specialized training for helping infants, children, and even adults who suffer from tongue or lip-ties. Becoming a parent is already overwhelming enough. When you insert a tongue/lip-tie and your newborn is having trouble breastfeeding, you’ll end up with more questions than answers.
Dr. Peterson knows this because he and his wife have lived through this situation. His children, Audrey and Louie, had difficulties breastfeeding.
After multiple painful and sleepless nights for Audrey, he and his wife sought help from a local lactation consultant. After a quick assessment, it was determined she was severely tongue tied, which interfered with successful breastfeeding. Almost immediately after she had a frenectomy (tongue-tie release) completed, the painful and sleepless nights ended! Dr. Peterson completed a laser lip and tongue-tie release on his second child, Louie, when he was four days old.
As a De Pere dentist, Dr. Peterson is here to help you get through this difficult situation. He invites you to read his wife’s blog on how this journey changed their lives.
The only dentist in Northeast Wisconsin to provide tongue and lip-tie release with the Solea laser.
As advocates for making your and your child’s care as pain-free as possible, we’ve invested in the Solea laser to make your laser treatment fast with virtually no bleeding.
- What is laser tongue-tie and lip-tie release?Laser surgery removes excess tissue in the mouth for infants, children, teens, or adults.
Simply put, a laser release is the use of an all-tissue, hand-held laser to detach the frenum (connective tissue webbing) from the upper lip or tongue by a trained dentist.
Conventional frenectomies consist of cutting the frenum with a scalpel or a pair of surgical scissors. The problem, or limitation, with the conventional frenectomy is that these older instruments can cause a great deal of bleeding and consequently, these treatments tend not to be as thorough, leaving the connective tissue still partially intact for fear of causing a scary bleeding episode. Sometimes it’s not enough to solve the problem.
- Why should I choose the laser?The results of modern laser frenectomy are excellent. The Solea laser provides various benefits over steel instruments, including the following:
- Less Pain: Studies have shown in patients receiving a tongue tie release with CO2 laser, they have less pain afterwards compared to patients having a release with scissors, scalpel, or diode laser.
- Sterilization: The laser kills bacteria and other microbes, making infection virtually impossible.
- Safe: The laser beam is small and easily guided where needed and nowhere else, unlike clunky scissors.
- Thorough: With bleeding under control, the laser can go as far as needed to eliminate 100% of the restriction.
- Does it hurt?We use numbing before starting the procedure in order to minimize discomfort.
- What do I need to do after the procedure?
There are postop instructions you must follow to ensure the procedure is a success. You can download them right from our website:
From Amber:
“I’m so very grateful for the time and care we received here for my newborn’s tongue-tie revision! Dr. Peterson is incredibly knowledgeable and compassionate about the struggles mom and baby can go through with nursing issues. It was such a blessing to have him recommended by my midwives and chiropractor.”
From Courtney:
“We visited Dr. Peterson to have our son’s tongue and lip-ties assessed and revised, and the entire staff at De Pere Smiles were warm and welcoming from the moment we arrived. Dr. Peterson took the time to not only assess how severe the ties were, but also walked us completely through the procedure and aftercare and answered any questions we had before we decided to go through with it.
The actual procedure only took about 5 minutes, and once it was over, we were shown to a private room so I could feed my son and note any changes in his latch. After he finished eating, we talked with Dr. Peterson a bit more, and he provided us with additional aftercare information and the contact information for a local lactation consultant in case we had any troubles.
Overall, being a FTM, I was terrified to have this procedure done, but Dr. Peterson and the staff at De Pere Smiles put my mind at ease and help us become confident in our choice. I can’t recommend them enough!”
From Lucy:
“Dr. Chris Peterson completed a frenectomy on our 11-month-old daughter. He and his staff did a wonderful job answering all of our questions and concerns. I wouldn’t have wanted anyone else to complete this procedure on our daughter!! We highly recommend him!!”
From Kyle:
“We brought our 5-week-old son to Dr. Peterson to have his lip and tongue ties revised.
After five weeks of incredible pain and difficulties with breastfeeding, I was hopeful the revision would help alleviate our troubles. Dr. Peterson and his staff were absolutely wonderful. The procedure was quick; my son did great! Not even one week later, breastfeeding has greatly improved, and there’s no more pain!
I’m so thankful we found Dr. Peterson and that we opted to have the procedure done. He was very attentive to us and our situation. You can tell he really truly cares about the families that come to him! Our family highly recommends his services!”
From Amy:
“We would highly recommend De Pere Smiles. We were referred to Dr. Peterson from our lactation consultant for our newborn in regard to a tongue-tie and lip-tie.
We felt at ease with Dr. Peterson and his staff from the moment we arrived. After an evaluation, Dr. Peterson shared his observations and we felt absolutely no pressure to decide whether or not to go ahead with the procedure. He explained exactly what he would be doing, leaving us feeling calm and confident about making the decision to get both the tongue and lip ties corrected.
The procedure was very quick, and we were able to have the room afterward to comfort our son. Dr. Peterson explained the recovery process, so we would know what to expect and he called a few days later to check in as well as to answer any questions I had. He is very knowledgeable and eager to help moms and babies. I am so happy we were referred to him and DePere Smiles!”
What to Expect With the Laser Release Procedure
When you call De Pere Smiles and set up your appointment for a tongue and lip-tie, we can usually schedule you within one week.
Dr. Peterson will evaluate you or your child for signs of a tongue-tie and/or lip-tie.
If he sees signs of this condition, he will:
- Educate you on his findings
- Discuss treatment options
- Go over any questions or concerns
- Perform the procedure the same day (if necessary)
The procedure is quick (3-15 seconds) as the laser gently removes the tissue with no bleeding and stitches.
Click here to get a breakdown on what to expect during the procedure.
Older children and adults:
Toddlers and children will receive numbing medication. Usually, the procedure is virtually painless and very quick. You or your child may notice an immediate difference in tongue mobility.
Infants:
Infants will receive numbing medication. Infants usually cry due to being swaddled and held tightly, which ensures a safe procedure. The infant usually calms down as soon as we pick them back up. You are encouraged to nurse and comfort your infant immediately following the procedure.
Dr. Peterson will provide detailed instructions after the procedure to ensure the treatment is a success. You may notice:
- Speech improvement within a few minutes to a few weeks
- Infants and children experiencing soreness for about 1-5 days
If you have any questions about postop care, please call our office at 920-336-6594
Trust Your Child's Health with De Pere Smiles
Providing tongue-tie and lip-tie laser release for Northeast Wisconsin, including De Pere, the Greater Green Bay area, and Fox Valley.
