Dr. Bobby Ghaheri is an ENT surgeon, who has a clinical interest in helping babies with breastfeeding difficulites. Dr. Ghaheri has written many wonderful articles disucssing tongue-tie, tongue-tie & breastfeeding and tongue-tie laser surger. To learn more about Dr. Ghaheri, please visit his website DrGhaheri.com. Dr. Ghaheri has written an excellent article titled "Tonge Tie Procedues Don't Need General Anesthesia"
One of the biggest hurdles to treating tongue tie or upper lip tie is the comfort level of the practitioner, especially if they do not perform a large volume of procedures. An additional obstacle is that the professionals who are capable of treating babies (ENTs, pediatricians, oral surgeons, family practitioners, midwives and nurse practitioners) all have varied training backgrounds. This makes a consistent approach to treating tongue tie and lip tie difficult to achieve. As a result, most practitioners simply practice what they were taught instead of looking for alternative options.
Mothers around the world have related to me frustrating scenarios like this:
Baby and/or mom have breastfeeding symptoms related to tongue or lip restriction
Their doctor or lactation consultant correctly identifies tongue tie or lip tie and refers them to an ENT or oral surgeon
The surgeon is not comfortable doing the procedure in the office and requires general anesthesia (GA)
The anesthesiologist is not comfortable doing "elective" procedures on babies until they are 3 (and often 6) months of age
While baby waits, mom and baby can't keep breastfeeding and the relationship is lost
Most of us know how important it is to look after our teeth, but do you know what the different types of teeth are and how we use them? Teeth don't just help you bite and chew; they play an important role in speaking and support many aspects of your facial structure. There are four kinds of teeth in your mouth, according to Everyday Health, and each performs a slightly different function. Then there are three rarer formations that can occur in a growing jaw. Incisors At the front of the mouth are eight thin, straight teeth called incisors - four at the top and four at the bottom - which bite into the food you eat and help you pronounce words as you you speak. Incisors also support the lips. To read the entire article by Jenny Green, please visit Colgate.com
Dr.
Bobby Ghaheri is an ENT surgeon, who has a clinical interest in helping
babies with breastfeeding difficulites. Dr. Ghaheri has written many
wonderful articles disucssing tongue-tie, tongue-tie & breastfeeding
and tongue-tie laser surger. To learn more about Dr. Ghaheri, please
visit his website DrGhaheri.com. Dr. Ghaheri has written an excellent article titled "How to Examine a Baby for Tongue-Tie or Lip-Tie"
The only purpose of this post is to demonstrate how to examine a baby who may have a tongue-tie or lip-tie. Future posts will help to explain the symptoms of intraoral restrictions that can impact breastfeeding.
Our first year of medical school includes proper examination technique. For instance, if you don't know where to put your stethoscope, you might miss a heart murmur. Unfortunately, we aren't instructed on how to examine a baby who is having breastfeeding problems. If you don't know how to properly examine a baby for tongue-tie or lip-tie, you will be more inclined to say that they don't exist.
The first step is adequate illumination. A headlight is a great option and critical in freeing up both hands. There are very affordable (under $25 typically) LED camping headlights that can be used to get a great view of the mouth.
The next step is proper positioning. This is the most common error made by medical professionals looking for tongue-tie or lip-tie. The provider and the parent should face each other, knees touching. The baby is laid on the lap of this makeshift table, head towards the examiner. You cannot adequately evaluate a baby's mouth when they are sitting in a parent's lap in an upright position.
