My child may have a tongue tie: What do I do now

  • If you are considering the possibility of tongue or lip tie in your child who may also have feeding, speech or sleep problems, you have come to the right place. We want you to contact us.

 

  • With proper support and prompt treatment, these problems can be improved over time and positively resolved in many cases. From the time you schedule a consultation appointment with a provider to your final follow-up appointment, you and your baby will be cared for with the utmost skill and compassion by each of our specialists.

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  • Your initial contact will be with a Scheduler and /or tongue tie Coordinator

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  • If appropriate for your child, an initial consult with one of our specialist nurse practitioners will be scheduled, by our Scheduler, for assessment ot the tie(s)

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Consult

  • Consults can be scheduled at your convenience and are available in each of our 4 locations. (Procedures are, however, done only at the Glendale and Chandler locations.)

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  • Consults are done in a holistic manner and include a symptomatic and anatomical diagnosis of tongue-tie by one of our certified pediatric nurse practitioners or Dr. Agarwal.

 

  • Your baby will be thoroughly examined with additional attention to the structure and function of the baby’s oral cavity including the characteristics of the tongue; attachment of the frenulae; muscular tightness;  a midline assessment of the baby’s spine and diaper area.

 

  • Family history of tongue-tie will be noted.

 

  • Feeding history and difficulties will be thoroughly reviewed.

 

  • Breastfeeding difficulties will be noted including information from your IBCLC.

Treatment Options

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Various treatment options exist for tongue and / or lip ties. These may include the laser guided release procedure (frenectomy) or just careful watching and follow up. 

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  • A treatment recommendation appropriate for your child will be made at the consult appointment.

 

  • Various studies have shown that a tongue tie corrective procedure (frenectomy) is safe and effective; and it usually helps improve breastfeeding, speech or other difficulties.

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  • Tie Corrective Procedures at Agave:  At Agave, our providers are strong advocates of breastfeeding. We have seen that tongue and lip ties can impede breastfeeding and also cause extreme pain for mothers. If both tongue and lip tie co-exist, we generally recommend doing tongue tie procedure first.  Most feeding difficulties in a child diagnosed with both tongue tie and a lip tie, often arise only from the tongue. 

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  • We have a large number of successful stories but we cannot guarantee that the procedure with be 100% successful. 

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  • At the consult we will discuss the pros and cons of the procedure and assist you as you make an informed decision for your child. 

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  • A post tongue-tie follow-up appointment is scheduled 2 weeks after the procedure to evaluate the healing process and address any feeding issues that have not improved. If an upper lip tie is present and is affecting feeding, an upper lip tie frenectomy may be performed on this day.

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  • Consultation notes will be sent to the referring provider, if requested.