After our three year old grandson had a dental exam done earlier in the week, we were told that he has ankyloglossia or tongue-tie. Then yesterday he was examined again by a speech-language pathologist at his preschool. Her recommendation was that his parents speak to his pediatrician about referring him to a specialist about possibly having his tongue clipped. She said that he is compensating fairly well for the problem with his tongue but that there are certain consonant blends that he will never be able to pronounce properly without the surgical procedure. We were told that the procedure is done with a laser and is fairly simple to perform. I was wondering if any of you know anything about this condition or procedure. I am particularly interested in any comments from Pamt. Thanks.

By Gammiejoan on Saturday, October 2, 2004 - 10:19 am:

Bumping up for Pamt.

By Pamt on Saturday, October 2, 2004 - 01:07 pm:

Sorry Joan. I didn't see this. A tongue tie is fairly common and is usually diagnosed more often with feeding issues b/c some babies have trouble sucking well with a tongue tie. In my experience most children do compensate well in regard to articulation, but things are easier for them if they do have their tongues clipped. You really need pretty good lingual protrusion to produce sounds like "th" and lingual elevation for sounds like "t,d,l,n" and this can be difficult to achieve with restricted tongue movement. It is a simple procedure and I personally would make the same recommendation to have the tongue clipped.

By Gammiejoan on Saturday, October 2, 2004 - 01:35 pm:

Thanks, Pam.

By Tink on Saturday, October 2, 2004 - 10:42 pm:

My brother had this done when he was 3 and it was a very simple procedure. He doesn't remember and my mom is really glad that she had it done. He had ADHD and she is glad that there wasn't anything else to make him different, like a speech issue. My ds doesn't have a "tight tongue" but he has trouble with all of those oral movements and sounds.

By Gammiejoan on Tuesday, November 9, 2004 - 07:23 pm:

My gs will be going to a surgery center on Friday to have the procedure done. He will be put to sleep, but my understanding is that he will not be "under" for more than ten minutes or so. Still I am a little nervous and apprehensive. I really wish that his pediatrician had noticed this when he was a newborn as the procedure would have been simpler then.

By Annie2 on Sunday, November 14, 2004 - 07:59 pm:

Joan, how is your GS doing after his surgery? I hope all went well.

By Gammiejoan on Monday, November 15, 2004 - 08:43 pm:

Thanks for asking, Annie. My gs has done quite well following the surgery. He doesn't seem to have much if any discomfort, and he is enjoying showing us that he can stick his tongue out now. LOL! The doctor who performed the procedure was really cute when he came out to talk with us immediately following the procedure. He looked at my dil and said, "Mom, I have loosened your son's tongue but will not be responsible for anything he says from this point on. Don't bring him back to me when he's sixteen asking me to fasten it back because I won't be able to do that." We are really looking forward to seeing how his speech improves now that he's had the procedure. He will still be receiving speech therapy at his pre-school.

By Pamt on Monday, November 15, 2004 - 09:03 pm:

Good news!

By Tink on Tuesday, November 16, 2004 - 01:27 am:

That's good to hear! I love the Dr's line. Please keep us updated on his progress in speech now.