Hey yall, My dentist wants to refer me to a specialist to evaluate if I should have my lingual frenulum cut/removed as an 30yr old adult. It's fully attached from the very tip of my tongue to the lower two center teeth (24&25) and in recent years has started to cause gum recession there, where the root of of tooth 24 is visible quite a few millimeters down. All of my life it has caused me to have quite limited tongue movement, and a slight speech impediment.

I understand this procedure can be covered for infants, but what about adults?

Wouldn't this be classified as "medically necessary" and not cosmetic? (Due to it causing gum recession and exposed root - likely eventually infections and bone loss)

Additional information: I do not smoke and very seldomly consume alcohol (1-2 drinks a month or less). Overall very poor dental hygiene most of my life until about a year or two ago.

So earlier this week I got my tongue tie cut. What I've noticed is that when I'm not focusing on it, my tongue will press into the back of my teeth to the point where it has now become very sore and maybe bruised (?). I've tried using gauze to create a spacer between it and my teeth and that seemed to work, but is only temporary. Is there any long term advice I could try besides just relearning where I need to hold my tongue?

I've always had enunciation issues, so I went to a dentist for a laser frenectomy. He didn't think my tongue-tie caused speech issues, but he removed the bottom half of my frenulum (floor of mouth to salivary duct)…which worked. It improved my speech because I can now lift the back of my tongue.

BUT. The tip of my tongue is still tied. With my mouth open, it can still only reach a little more than halfway toward the roof of my mouth. I'm very confused. Every frenectomy I've seen involves removing the entire frenulum.

At the follow-up, I asked him to also remove the top half. But he said if my speech improved already, it wasn't worth taking the risk. He seemed very concerned about possibly damaging the salivary glands, which is why he only removed half in the first place. But he also said he's never damaged it, and he's been a dentist for 40+ years.

The wound is still healing at 1 week, so I can't tell if I still have speech problems. I know salivary gland and nerve damage are possible complications, but it seems very rare with laser, and frenectomy is not a complicated procedure. Besides, it would be nice to have a longer tongue for recreational reasons.

Is he right and I should think about it, or is this a red flag? Maybe he's just being thorough?

Tldr; Dentist only removed bottom half of frenulum. My speech is better, but I'm still tied at the tip of my tongue. He thinks I shouldn't take the risk of removing the top half if my speech has already improved because of possible salivary gland damage. Is he right?

1 week post-op

Male 24, 6'3 275lb Don't smoke

Ive never really spoken clearly and I feel my tongue doesn't reach the back corners of my mouth to clear food. My mom took me to my pediatrician and he didn't want to do it because I was too young. My uncle had it done when he was a child, if that matters

My dentist said he hadn't seen a tongue like that in 20 years; granted he said he doesn't look at tongues. But he claims it's farther up the tongue than most people. He recommended to go preferably to a head and neck surgeon, or second choice an oral surgeon.

I also had a first time appointment with new doctor and she says she doesn't see anything notable and it could just be my jaw anatomy; but says go to ENT if I want.

Just looking for another opinion to make the best decision

I have a tongue tie under my tongue and was wanting to go ahead and get it removed. I wasn't sure if this would somehow interfere with treatment from Invisalign, as I am about halfway done with it.

Has anyone experienced tongue tip tingling and burning sensation after a lingual frenectomy? I am having the hardest time finding any information regarding this and my oral surgeon was not much help. Thank you!

Hi,

I’m 28 years old. And I just had a lingual frenectomy surgery about 4 days ago while two of my wisdom teeth were being removed. I started feeling numbness on the tip of my tongue once the anesthetics wore off. Is it normal? I still have trouble speaking and eating properly.

Sorry I can’t edit the title but I meant LABIAL frenectomy.

So I am going to take my newborn in but I was interested to hear your professional opinions on timing of labial frenectomy. She has what I’m pretty sure is a grade 4 lip tie- frenulum of the top lip attaches to her gum to the point where her gum is notched. (Looks like this https://frenectomytoday.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/070.jpg) pretty sure she will have a diastema, and breastfeeding is fairly painful although she is doing well with it.

I too had one as a child and my mom was told to wait for the surgery until my preteens and they basically excised it even from my hard palate, then I got braces to bring the front teeth together. Surgery was not pleasant to have done with just local. However consulting Dr Google now, it seems that people are saying dentists or ENT can laser it or do something as a baby. Obviously that would be my preference, but would doing it this early also get rid of the potential for diastema later on? Or would we have to go back in for another procedure? Thanks—

Hi all!

I just had a lingual frenectomy today because I was “tongue tied”

Afterwards, I felt my bottom front teeth moving (I have a permanent retainer from my orthodontic years). Then I started feeling really awful pain in my throat (I would call it a 9, which obviously for someone with EDS is pretty unusual) When I checked it, my hyoid or whatever’s down there was moving around way more than normal.

I tried researching this, but I can’t find any other story of extreme throat pain after a frenectomy.

Has anyone had this treatment? Did you have similar “weird” reactions? What helped during recovery?

Thanks <3

I'm in my 30s, and about two years ago I was told I had a mild tongue tie (ankyloglossia), which suddenly explained many things I'd experienced over my life: a tongue thrust swallowing pattern that led to a skeletal open bite that required braces twice, difficulty consistently nose-breathing due to inability to place my tongue in the traditional position for adults (which is pressed against the palate), etc.

With effort, and clarity thanks to the identification, I was able to manually release my tongue enough to adopt the standard placement (again, against the palate), and spent the past few years using mewing / orthotropic practices to help open my nasal pathway, which has been slow but effective, but my tongue remained mildly tied. I had scheduled a procedure to release it, but thought to take it as an opportunity for a unique experience instead: self-surgery.

Given that a lingual frenectomy is a very simple procedure - literally you just carefully cut through some connective tissue, then manage the wound as it heals, I thought it would be appropriate to try it out myself, and use it as a learning experience.

So I took it on today, about 10 hours ago, and would say it went well. First I studied some videos and some of the published literature comparing different approaches. I got a sense of how far I should go wrt the procedure, and how I should care for the wound.

I did the procedure in my bathroom over the sink. Having a large fixed mirror and good lighting was useful. I did bleed a fair bit - slow bleeding I believe from capillaries and small vessels, so the sink came in handy.

I used a single-use "guaranteed sterile" #11 scalpel, so I had minimal concerns around needing to sterilize the instruments. First I tried using the flat edge of the scalpel against the center of the frenulum, but found that somewhat less easy to control and more painful than a separate approach, which was catching the edge of the frenulum with the point of the blade, and then pulling against it until it passed through the the tissue. Because I was doing this with my mouth open, the blade facing away, and pulling away from myself, I was relatively safe from unintentionally cutting myself elsewhere. I continued through the tissue, and by pulling my tongue toward my palate, I was able to reveal which connections were present, by making them taut. I continued, past the flat part of frenulum, to either side the the connections under the tongue, seeking to make a "diamond-shape

Hi all!

I just had a lingual frenectomy today because I was “tongue tied”

Afterwards, I felt my bottom front teeth moving (I have a permanent retainer from my orthodontic years). Then I started feeling really awful pain in my throat (I would call it a 9, and I have chronic pain, so that’s really high. To put it in perspective, this hurts more than when my hip dislocated). When I checked it, my hyoid or whatever’s down there was moving around way more than normal.

I have a connective tissue disorder caller Ehlers Danlos Syndrome that messes lots of stuff up for me. The short version is that my body produces collagen that’s the wrong shape, so I’m too stretchy. I don’t see how it could cause this though. I was prepared for slow healing and stitches maybe coming out as those are pretty normal with my condition, but I have no idea what’s causing this symptom.

I tried researching this, but I can’t find any other story of extreme throat pain after a frenectomy.

Has anyone heard of this happening? Would anything help to relieve/reduce the pain?

Thank you!

I'm a OSA mild case - getting an oral appliance tomorrow. Doctor also mentioned I have a tongue tie that doesn't help and recommended a frenectomy to remove it. (I never had this done as a child because it doesn't interfere with eating or speech)

I've been researching but can't find a lot of good info about this - only one study that suggested tongue tie exacerbates sleep apnea in children, and then some websites that claim releasing a tongue tie will help everything from snoring to backaches.

It's a mild enough procedure when done with a laser but I'd like to hear others experience.

I had a lingual frenectomy about a month ago. Healing was quick and had no problem other than it not being cut back enough and needing to get it cut again. So I had another appointment 2 days ago, a month from the first one. The periodontist numbed me up a lot more than the first time, which included sticking a needle in the end of my tongue and the floor of my mouth. Afterwards, he said that he had been more aggressive this time and it looked really good.

So later that day, after the numbing medication wore off, I still had numbness on the right, tip of my tongue. Not only that but when I tried to exercise my tongue, by sticking it out, I had an strange feeling through the length of my tongue. It felt like there was a "string or wire" running from the numb tip of my tongue to the base of my tongue, where it had been cut back. And whenever I would stick my tongue out, I could feel this "wire/string" get tighter and tighter and the pain would get worse and worse. I can "feel" the entire "pathway" from the tip to the base, every time I move my tongue. If I touch the cut area at the base of my tongue, with my finger, it is very sensitive at one particular place and runs up the "wire/string". So I figure that this has something to do with a nerve. It's almost like the nerve is exposed and I am touching it. It's been two days, and it's still painful to move my tongue at all.

Today, I called the Dr and he said it was just part of the healing. Well, it wasn't the last time! Anyway, I'm not sure if he cut the nerve, poked it with the syringe needle or there is a suture on it or through it or something. Yeah, I know it's only been two days, but I'm starting to imagine this never getting better and it's freaking me out, man!

Anyone ever have this problem before, with any input? Or anyone have any advice to make it better? I tried to look for a stitch that might be affecting it, but it looks like raw meat in there and I can't make out anything. I could use any information that might help calm my nerves. Haha, nerves. Thanks a bunch.

I'm starting to doubt my dentist, and hope someone here can put my mind at ease.

March 18: I got a lingual frenectomy the "old fashioned" way (scalpel, no laser). Purpose was to ultimately stop my tongue from pushing against my bottom teeth when I swallow (I had no speech impediment). Instant regret. Recovery was incredibly painful, tongue so swollen i could barely close my mouth.

March 20: Went back in to confirm that I had no infection and that it was healing fine.

April 5: I went in for a follow-up, concerned that I was able to stick my tongue out less than before. When I try to stick it out, there's a dent in it, as though it's attached somewhere it shouldn't be. My dentist said it was because of scar tissue. She sent me home with packs of gauze, and told me to grab my tongue and pull it out and stretch it to help the healing process along.

I've been doing this, but have seen no change in the past week. I can't lick ice cream anymore. My speech has plateaued at 95% of what it once was -- I'm lisping slightly and had no lisp before.

I know it's been less than a month, but this doesn't seem right to me. I've been Googling like hell, and all I can find is information about the laser method, where people were fine the next day and given stretches to do during recovery (I was not given any, nor would I have been able to do them).

Can anyone confirm whether my dentist is giving me the best information? Will I have to get this procedure re-done?

So I got a lingual frenectomy performed with a scalpel on Saturday at the age of 23. It has recovered pretty well so far, and the pain of the incision is bearable. However, the one thing that has been freaking me out is the numbness of the tip of my tongue. I can barely feel anything on the tip of my tongue. It feels like I just took a sip of extremely hot coffee, but all the time. I've read about how the nerves in my tongue could be traumatized or severed, and I'm terrified, especially because I've read it could take years to recover--if it even does recover--and now I have a lisp. There aren't many firsthand experiences I could find on Google, so I was wondering if anyone could assure me that this will go away. I tried calling my oral surgeon, but he just said "everyone should expect a little numbness after procedures." Any help would be greatly appreciated.

This is a follow-up of this post: https://www.reddit.com/r/Dentistry/comments/65h5ob/i_had_a_second_lingual_frenectomy_but_this_time/

So it's been a month and a half since my second lingual frenectomy and the numbness on the tip of my tongue is still there. I went to my periodontist for my 1 month checkup in which he said to come back in 3 months and we'll see if things have gotten better by then.

It feels like the nerve is exposed on an area on the bottom of my tongue as I'm able to touch it with my finger and can feel a "jolt" running up my tongue. So a couple questions I have are: Is it possible to have part of the nerve exposed after it has healed and will it require more surgery to fix it? And what's can the doctor do about the numbness when I come back in 3 months and it's no better? There isn't really anything he can do, is there? Guess I'll have to live with a jacked up tongue. Sigh.

Thanks

I would prefer to not go to some sort of actual surgical office or something because i fear the price will be too high. Am I being stupid or cheap? has anyone had something like this done? any advice?

I'm looking into getting a lingual frenectomy because I think I'm a little tongue tied and have always had some difficulty articulating words. I haven't called anybody for a consult yet, I was just curious if you guys knew any reasons that I shouldn't get it done (especially since this procedure seems to be done more often on children?). Will it help me speak easier? Can anyone give a ballpark guess on the cost?

Here's an album so that y'all can tell me if I'm not actually tongue tied: http://imgur.com/a/yFnz4

Hello fellow redditors :) So here's the deal.

I (20 M) am going to be having the lingual frenectomy procedure done next week and am uber excited to finally have a normal length tongue and all the benefits that come with it. And yes one of those benefits being my gf lol. On top of that though I can't roll my R's at all. It's rather embarrassing since my first name starts with a, you guessed it, R. I also have mumbling issues and don't always speak as clearly as I would like. So this will all be a huge boost in confidence. Also just for kicks I've always wanted a long tongue, just think it'd be cool and unique.

So my main question is is there any insider tips on how to deal with the recovery/therapy after the procedure? Also is there anything to do so that my tongue can be as long as possible? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. This is something I've always wanted even as a kid. Aslo my gf would love this haha, if she thought I was good before, WATCH OUT!! haha.

Thanks for reading guys hope to hear from you all soon. Cheers :D

From the title, you know what happened haha. I have been shadowing for a while but today I shadowed a new dentist. She explained to me that she was going to do a lingual frenectomy on a patient. I told her I've never seen that procedure (or have even heard of it truthfully.)

I started to feel a little clamy and suddenly I woke up in the nearby conference room with the dentist, DA and office manager around me. They told me to stay laying down and that I didn't hit my head on my way down. Another DA rushed in and brought me oatmeal - I thought "How long does it take to make instant oatmeal? 3 minutes? How long have I been out?!" I was handed a box of juice and was so confused and embarrassed. So much seemed to happen all at once - I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Not sure if I made a good impression but defiantly a rememberable one (':

Anyway, I'm nervous to continue dentistry. I read that oral surgeons and ENT's normally do frenectomies but is it good to go into school thinking "I'll just refer that one out?" Extractions don't bother me but cutting someone's tongue just did it for me I guess.

P.S. It was embarrassing but now I just keep laughing about it - my friends are sending me gifs of people falling over haha

I’ve had both, and I realize it could be helpful to share if you’re considering one or the other. Please feel free to add in the comments!

Context: Ages 11-13: braces on upper arch only, palate expander, and headgear. Successfully addressed crowding and partially addressed underbite; asked to come back when I finished growing. Age 18: returned to ortho (after wisdom tooth extraction and lingual frenectomy) and deemed a surgical case to correct underbite. Declined surgical intervention because I wasn’t in pain, though my bite was terrible (made contact on four teeth total, two molars per side). Age 25: pursuing Invisalign treatment on both arches to correct a lateral and posterior open bite and correct spacing issues. Currently three months into treatment; I have 23 attachments (out of 28 teeth) with elastics.

Pros & Cons

• Both require a serious commitment to oral hygiene; flossing is easier with Invisalign, but unlike braces, aligners need to be maintained (brushed/soaked). I don’t like doing my oral care routine in public bathrooms during a pandemic, so I would’ve gone with regular braces if I didn’t work from home.

• Both are a financial investment. My braces in adolescence were around $8k because my treatment was extensive (side note, braces are the only option for folks who need certain appliances), and my Invisalign was $5500 (would have been $5000 to go with regular braces, so the price differential is smaller than one might assume).

• Treatment duration is comparable. Obviously everyone will vary, but I had braces for about two years, and I anticipate being in Invisalign treatment for a minimum of 18 months.

• I’ve actually found Invisalign far more painful than braces. I didn’t experience pain when I had my braces tightened, but each new set of aligners hurts (nothing crazy, but I have a newfound appreciation for acetaminophen). Both options cut up the inside of my mouth.

• I see my ortho every 6-8 weeks with Invisalign, vs. every two weeks or so with braces, and I occasionally required an emergency visit if a wire snapped (ouch)—Invisalign treatment isn’t foolproof, but there are very few situations that would be considered “emergencies” with Invisalign.

• I preferred eating with braces! I miss having hot drinks and food whenever I feel like it, and of course I have to maintain 22h wear time. On the flip side, though, I can eat anything I want as long as my trays are out (though I still don’t eat corn on the cob—my teeth are too t

What exactly is orofacial myology treatment? Is it like non-speech oral motor exercises? Is there evidence supporting it? Why are some SLPs (like me) clueless about it and others swear by it/ base their whole practice on it?

Hi, this is my first post here, so I hope I’m in the right place.
I’ve wanted to get my tongue split for a very, very long time, and I’m looking for some advice. I already know a little, just from having pined over getting the procedure done for 20+ years I’ll say what I’m looking for, and if anyone can point me in the right direction, I would greatly, greatly appreciate that. To be clear, I’m looking for someone that is a professional and does good work.

I am looking for the deepest split possible that is not going to severely impair my ability to speak. (I do know that there may be some getting used to using a liberated tongue, some re-learning. I am talking to the point, I cannot re-learn) I’m fully willing to deal with some re-learning. I had a lingual frenectomy in the past, I do not know if they can split down the membrane where the lingual frenulum was, if not, can they separate your tongue from the base of your mouth some to improve length? I’m not talking a whole lot, I just know I have a longer tongue than that membrane allows form and I’d like to get as much bang for my tongue as I can, and that membrane has annoyed me for years. (The one that connects the center of your tongue to the base of your mouth. Mine seems just a bit short. Don’t like it, I don’t know if its normal but if I stick my tongue out far enough it hurts, so yeah, I want that gone.
I need a method that results in rounded segments, not flat where the tongue was split, so pierce, heal, burn and stitch?

I *really* would like to not feel this happening… Any way to get myself all numbed up like at a dental appointment? Like is there anyone that would do that? ( I know, what a baby)

Since I want the deep split, and under my tongue worked on, do I need the underside done first, get my piercing, heal, then get my split, or do I get it all done at once?

I know what I want and I know I’ve wanted it a long long time. I just need a little help to make my dream come true.

Thank you, sorry for text wall.

I don't want to step on anybody's toes here, but the amount of non-dad jokes here in this subreddit really annoys me. First of all, dad jokes CAN be NSFW, it clearly says so in the sub rules. Secondly, it doesn't automatically make it a dad joke if it's from a conversation between you and your child. Most importantly, the jokes that your CHILDREN tell YOU are not dad jokes. The point of a dad joke is that it's so cheesy only a dad who's trying to be funny would make such a joke. That's it. They are stupid plays on words, lame puns and so on. There has to be a clever pun or wordplay for it to be considered a dad joke.

Again, to all the fellow dads, I apologise if I'm sounding too harsh. But I just needed to get it off my chest.

Hi fam. For a long time I've been thinking about frenulum restoration. Assuming you have tissue to restore, it seems like it would be an easy cosmetic procedure (for a surgeon) to suture the frenulum skin back to near the glans where it naturally originates, restoring functional tension.

In theory, this small cosmetic surgery would restore the natural self-covering action of foreskin instead of relying on excessive skin coverage or other interventions.

I finally got around to looking into if this process exists or was in practice and I ran into an academic paper laying out what the process might look like. Here's a link to that article.

It's easy to underestimate the function and pleasure a working frenulum brings to a fully functional member since most of us did not get circumcised by choice and have no experience with being intact and functional in our adulthood.

For a good many of us who are partially restored, or just getting started with restoring, perhaps this surgery will be readily available and affordable by the time we are ready to consider it. As for myself, I could easily see myself pursuing this quick procedure to have naturally moving foreskin function. (Though I would be reluctant to be a "poster-junk" for a wildly successful experience.)

So many of us here are focused on restoration and the frenulum is an important part of that natural working system. I wanted to put this in everyone's minds as an idea to consider. Perhaps sometime, sooner than later, we'll have someone go out on a limb and find a doctor to try this procedure and report back. Maybe it'll be me, who knows.

P.S.

Because the link is annoying, I've posted the content of the article below for easy reading:

Frenulum Reconstruction as an Adjunct to Post Circumcision Glans Penis Coverage

More and more men are seeking post-circumcision glans coverage. They call themselves Intactivists. Extensive surgeries as grafts and the San Francisco multiple wedges with remaining frenectomy have been rejected by their community. Without medical attention coverage is now being accomplished with only long-term stretching of remaining skin. Their stretching techniques have proven successful for glans coverage. Still, many men are curious about future surgical techniques.

They realize the weakness of their efforts is an ineffective frenulum. There is no forward tissu

Alot of great jokes get posted here! However just because you have a joke, doesn't mean it's a dad joke.

THIS IS NOT ABOUT NSFW, THIS IS ABOUT LONG JOKES, BLONDE JOKES, SEXUAL JOKES, KNOCK KNOCK JOKES, POLITICAL JOKES, ETC BEING POSTED IN A DAD JOKE SUB

Try telling these sexual jokes that get posted here, to your kid and see how your spouse likes it.. if that goes well, Try telling one of your friends kid about your sex life being like Coca cola, first it was normal, than light and now zero , and see if the parents are OK with you telling their kid the "dad joke"

I'm not even referencing the NSFW, I'm saying Dad jokes are corny, and sometimes painful, not sexual

So check out r/jokes for all types of jokes

r/unclejokes for dirty jokes

r/3amjokes for real weird and alot of OC

r/cleandadjokes If your really sick of seeing not dad jokes in r/dadjokes

Punchline !

Edit: this is not a post about NSFW , This is about jokes, knock knock jokes, blonde jokes, political jokes etc being posted in a dad joke sub

Edit 2: don't touch the thermostat

Do your worst!

Ants don’t even have the concept fathers, let alone a good dad joke. Keep r/ants out of my r/dadjokes.

But no, seriously. I understand rule 7 is great to have intelligent discussion, but sometimes it feels like 1 in 10 posts here is someone getting upset about the jokes on this sub. Let the mods deal with it, they regulate the sub.

They were cooked in Greece.

I'm surprised it hasn't decade.

How the hell am I suppose to know when it’s raining in Sweden?

Don't you know a good pun is its own reword?