Our son’s tongue is tied, but not so much so that his plastic surgeon or speech therapist recommends that he have surgery to clip the frenulum (tissue that is connected to the underside of his tongue) right away. When our son sticks his tongue out the tip of his tongue gets pulled into a “V” shape and he calls this his lizard tongue. His surgeons tell us he is tongue tied.

Thankfully, our surgeons understand and agree that there is no need for an unnecessary surgery and since it is not affecting his speech therapy and progress thereof, it’s off the table for now. However, should he require a dental procedure where he is going to be numb anyways, or have to go in for ear tube surgery; while already under anesthesia, the frenulum can be easily clipped.  The team dentist also believes that it should be clipped because of the constant tension on the gum tissue on the backside of his lower teeth. We were told that his gum tissue could eventually erode and cause problems later on down the road with not enough gum tissue being there. If that’s not enough to want to consider having it clipped, his dentist then told us that we are going to want to make sure to get that frenulum clipped because (get this) it will make him a better kisser.  Better kisser?  Better kisser?  Seriously? He’s only 7 years old for crying out loud!

My son reached over, grabbed my face AND kissed me!  He then looked at everyone and said he “didn’t need surgery because he can already kiss good.”  Ahhhh….so cute my little guy is!  But seriously, our team dentist told us that he has limited movement with his tongue and that grown cleft kids come in and ask for their short frenulum to be cut so that they could have better tongue movement and make them a better kisser.

Who knew I would be having to consider having my son’s tongue tissue clipped so that he could grow up to be a better kisser when the time comes? Sometimes this mom gig is too much!  My young son is proud of his lizard tipped tongue and thinks its pretty cool so the whole kissing thing can wait…for now.

Any other cleft mamas have to deal with their cuties being tongue tied? If so, what did you decide to do and at what age? Did it make a difference with their speech?

Lord knows I don’t want my son to grow up and be upset with me for not giving him the best chance at being a champion smoocher! Just another day of being a cleft mama I suppose…:)

 

For further reading, please see article below:

Tongue Tie (Ankyloglossia): Diagnosis, Symptoms, Surgery, and More