Teen

Poor oral health

One of the first symptoms of tongue-tie in adults is poor oral health. When your tongue has limited mobility, it becomes difficult to remove food and debris from the teeth after eating. Tongue-tie can also cause a gap between the bottom front teeth. Adults with tongue-tie may experience frequent cavities, gum inflammation, gum disease, bad breath, and other oral health problems.

Speech issues

With a tongue that’s unable to move in a free range of motion, articulating certain sounds can be difficult and cause speech issues in not just adults with tongue-tie, but all ages. Tongue-tie can make the following sounds difficult to pronounce:

• “T”
• “D”
• “Z”
• “S”
• “Th”
• “R”
• “L”

If you find some of these sounds difficult to pronounce, there’s a good chance you have a tongue-tie.

Mouth breathing

Tongue-tie can also affect your ability to breathe through your nose. When tongue-tie is present, it can prevent the upper palate from developing large or high enough. As a result, there is not enough space for nasal breathing. Mouth breathing can result in an increased risk of cavities and gum disease because it can cause dry mouth.

Reduced quality of life

Tongue-tie in adults can also result in overall reduced quality of life. When someone grows up with a tongue-tie, it will force them to adapt to certain areas of their life to accommodate their limitations. For instance, one might not eat certain foods because their tongue-tie prevents them. They may eat more unhealthy foods because they’re easier to eat but suffer other health consequences as a result. People with tongue-tie may also have difficulty licking their lips, kissing, or playing a wind instrument. Having these types of limitations can result in overall reduced quality of life.

Heart-shaped tongue

Another symptom of tongue-tie in adults is a heart-shaped tongue. When someone with a tongue-tie sticks their tongue out, the end will resemble a heart shape. This is because the frenulum that’s attached to the bottom of the mouth extends all the way to the tip of the tongue.

TMJ dysfunction

Another major symptom of tongue-tie in adults is TMJ dysfunction. When the tongue is unable to move in a full range of motion, the mouth naturally adapts to cope. One of the ways the mouth copes is by swallowing incorrectly. Normally, the tongue will push food around in the mouth to the back to swallow but when a tongue-tie is present, this cannot happen. Instead, people with tongue-tie have food move around in their mouth when they eat. This can lead to incorrect swallowing. With consistent incorrect swallowing, teeth can come misaligned and the jaw will develop incorrectly. The misaligned teeth and jaw development issues can cause an imbalance in the jaw joints which results in TMJ disorders.

TMJ disorders can lead to serious symptoms like frequent headaches and migraines, jaw, neck, and back pain, clicking and popping jaw, and much more.

Sleep apnea

The last symptom of tongue-tie in adults is sleep apnea. Sleep apnea is a serious sleep disorder that causes the body to stop breathing repeatedly throughout the night. Tongue-tie can cause sleep apnea as a result of an underdeveloped palate which can cause a smaller airway. When someone with a smaller palate goes to sleep, they’re at a higher risk of their upper airway collapsing – which is the cause of sleep apnea.

Sleep apnea can cause daytime sleepiness, morning headaches, difficulty concentrating, memory problems, moodiness, and result in car accidents. Without treatment, it can also increase the risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, high blood pressure, and more.

Problems associated with teen tongue tie

• Being teased because you cannot stick your tongue out or you have a forked tongue
• Tongue tie can affect your ability to kiss
• Social activities such as licking an ice cream or sticking your tongue out in jest are difficult
• Your speech may be affected, especially with sounds such as TH, D, L and T which require elevation of the tongue to touch the palate
• Often you may skip or trip over sounds when you speak quickly, when excited or after drinking alcohol, giving the impression that your drunk
• A short frenulum may inhibit normal swallowing by preventing your tongue from coming into contact with the roof of the mouth. This may eventually lead to a protruding lower jaw due to repeated efforts to thrust the tongue forward while swallowing
• Repetitive tongue thrusting efforts may cause your lower incisor teeth to move forward
• Tongue tie may prevent you from tooth brushing when the tongue is attached to close to the gum edge
• Some people just want to be able to stick their tongue out !!

Social media will often report adult tongue tie as a cause of TMJ dysfunction, neck pain and other ailments in the head and neck. There are no scientific studies to back up any of these claims.

You should proceed with caution if you expect the release of an adult tongue tie to alleviate these symptoms. However there are many individual stories and case reports which may suggest a link between adult tongue tie and facial pain, neck pain and migraine. The tongue is the end point of the body’s “Front Line Fascia”. Fascial restrictions can cause tension in the body.

Teen upper lip tie

Lip ties usually affect the upper front teeth but the lower front teeth are occasionally affected. Ties affecting the side teeth while possible are rare.

• Upper Lip ties may result in a gap between the front teeth when the lip tie inserts between the front teeth it will prevent the teeth coming together
• An upper Lip Ties may make brushing your teeth difficult and trap food around your teeth
• A Lip ties can pull the gum off the front teeth putting the health of the front teeth at risk. If a lip tie is severe it is best released as early as possible as damage caused may not be repairable
• All lip and tongue ties grow back to some degree. Usually not enough to be a problem if you have a thick and fibrous tie they can grow back completely. You cannot prevent this if a tie does return then repeated releases over several years may reduce the degree of re growth.

Teen tongue tie and lip tie release

The procedure is painless. We will give you a painkiller before treatment so you will be comfortable later in the day when you have returned home. Doctor will inject a small amount of anesthetic into the area. The tongue or lip is pulled back to expose the tie and doctor uses a laser releases the restriction. You will hear a beeping sound and there is a smell. The whole procedure takes less than 5 minutes. A small amount of pain is to be expected in the following days. The wound will turn yellow/ green over several days, this is healing tissue and the wound will have healed in about 14 days. A painkiller may be needed for several days, you must bathe the area in warm salty water and or Peroxyl mouth wash several times a day for about 2 weeks to keep the wound clean. You should also exercise your tongue regularly by sticking your tongue out, up, down, left and right as far as the tongue will go for several minutes several times a day for up to 2 weeks. This will help healing, prevent adhesions and increase tongue movement.

Post release exercises

Your tongue is in fact a group of muscles and muscles have memory. Muscles will do what they have always done. After an adult has a tongue tie release it is very important that you exercise the tongue on a regular basis to teach your tongue its full range of movements. Exercises will also prevent post-surgical scar tissue forming.

• Stick your tongue straight out
• And up to touch your nose
• Then right then left as far as it will go
• Finally out and down as far as it will go

Hold the tongue in these positions for 10 seconds. Do each of these exercises 3 times and at least 3 times a day for 3 weeks. If you are hoping to correct a speech issue, then the simplest exercise is to say the particular words you are having trouble with slowly and deliberately until you can form the correct sounds and the word formation becomes automatic. If you have more severe problems the help of a Speech and Language Therapist must be sought. Myofunctional Facial therapy is a form of specialized physiotherapy for facial muscles of improve function and appearance of the face.

Teen upper lip ties

For lip ties simply bring your lips together and blow into your lips keeping a lip seal. This will expand and stretch your lips, aiding healing and preventing adhesions. A diamond shaped ulcer will develop under the tongue and or lip and this will heal within 2 weeks.

Conclusion

Tongue-tie in teens and adults can cause a variety of problems that affect oral health, speech, breathing, and overall quality of life. Symptoms of tongue-tie in adults include poor oral health, speech issues, mouth breathing, reduced quality of life, heart-shaped tongue, TMJ dysfunction, and sleep apnea. In addition, teens with tongue-tie may experience social and physical limitations that can affect their self-esteem and confidence. Although it is preferred to treat tongue-tie in childhood, adults can also benefit from treatment to improve their oral function, speech, and quality of life. Therefore, it is important for parents and healthcare providers to be aware of the symptoms of tongue-tie and seek treatment as early as possible.