Addressing a Tongue-tie in Adults
A tongue-tie or ankyloglossia is a condition babies are born with that restricts their tongues' range of motion. A tongue-tie is a thick, tight tissue band called a lingual frenulum that tethers the tongue's bottom to the mouth floor.
This makes it harder for a baby to breastfeed. If you do not address this condition in your babies, they will carry it into adulthood. A person with a tongue-tie may have difficulty sticking the tongue out, affecting how a child speaks, eats, or swallows.
We tend to associate tongue ties with newborn babies. While this is mainly true, approximately 3.5 to 5% are born with a tongue-tie. As mentioned, if not treated as a child, the condition grows with them into adulthood, which means they create adaptive behaviors to compensate for the tongue-tie limitations.
Tongue-Tie Symptoms
The symptoms of a tongue-tie include:
Challenges moving the tongue from side to side or lifting the tongue towards the upper teeth
Difficulty in sticking the tongue out further than the lower front teeth
The tongue appears heart-shaped or notched when stuck out.
Treating Adult Tongue-Tie
Most adults report an immediate sense of tension and emotional release when they have a tongue-tie release done. These could include neck pain or headaches.
Tongue Tie Effects
A tongue-tie can affect your overall wellbeing and health into adulthood. The most common side effects of tongue ties include:
Poor Oral Health
A tongue-tie reduces your ability to brush food particles off your teeth. It leads to poor oral health and issues like gum inflammation, tooth decay, etc.
Tongue Thrust
If you have a tongue-tie, a space develops between your two lower bottom teeth. You may also develop other teeth alignments due to tongue thrust. Most people with tongue-ties have smaller and narrower mouths.
TMJ Issues
One of the adaptations people with tongue ties have to deal with is incorrect swallowing patterns. In normal swallowing, the tongue rises as you swallow and pushes food to the back of the mouth. With a tongue tie, it may be harder to do this. Incorrect swallowing causes various issues like tooth misalignment.
It may also cause pain in the temporomandibular joints (TMJ), where the jaw meets at the base of the ears.
Sleep Apnea
Since people with tongue ties have poor dental alignment, they also have a smaller palate than usual. It reduces the size of the upper airway. When they sleep, they risk the upper airway collapsing during sleep or sleep apnea, which causes breathing interruptions. If untreated, sleep apnea can be dangerous, even fatal.
Headaches, neck pain, shoulders, and Backaches
The tongue is attached to a bone called the hyoid bone, which is attached to numerous muscles. With a tongue-tie, headaches and neck and shoulder pains result from the tightening of the hyoid bone muscles.
A person with a tongue-tie has their head tilted forward all the time. This posture affects muscles that cause back, shoulder, neck, and head pain.
Reduced Quality of Life
Depending on the tongue-tie's severity, it may reduce a person's quality of life. A person growing up with a tongue tie has to create adaptations to cope with the condition. They may eat foods that are easier to eat and avoid others, affecting their health and body weight.
A person with a tongue tie may avoid eating an ice cream cone, licking their lips, playing wind instruments, etc.
Conclusion
Treating an adult tongue-tie is not something done by just any doctor. Tongue-tie revisions do not feature in conventional dental or medical school. Look for a qualified provider who has the necessary qualifications. Contact us for a virtual or in-person evaluation and treatment of tongue-tie.