Attached Upper Lip Frenulum - advice needed

[Ruth_Baldock]

Thanks, I should know all this. Everyone thinks I am being paranoid, I call it being prepared!

[Gussy]

It sounds perfectly reasonable to me Ruth! Get everything ready, pump, creams, shields, just in case. Tongue tie def runs in the family (and one would assume upper lip tie does too - my grandfather had it). I know I expected the worst the second time around and I was glad I did in some ways. It meant I was straight on the phone to a lactation consultant and within 3 days of birth we had the tongue tie snipped.....(shame it didn't do anything, but that was probably the upper lip thing too causing problems, which I didn't know at the time).

PS second Peckham Library drop in. Very friendly, lovely ladies, and they see a lot of tongue tie babies, so nothing will be 'overlooked' there x

[minder]

My daughter began orthodontic treatment in September 09 as she had always had a gap between her two top front teeth and an overbite due to having a dummy when a baby.

She never had any feeding problems but when in reception class she was referred to a speech therapist as she had a slight lisp. She only went twice and was then discharged as the speech therapist said it wasn't a problem and we only noticed it now and again.

Daughter had her brace fitted in the September and then orthodontist told me she would need removal of a piece of skin between her teeth as there might be problems with closing her gap.

I remember taking her to King's Dental Institute and was led into a room with two students and a Mr R Bentley who pointed out what would happen. He pointed to the piece of skin in the middle of daughters top teeth on her gum and said this would be removed by laser. He didn't point to the frenulum then.

Six weeks later my husband took her for the procedure and when she came home I was a bit shocked to see what had been done and on the consent form my husband signed it said "removal of labial frenum with laser".

I had a few sleepless nights about whether the wrong piece of skin had been taken away and even orthodontist was very vague about it saying "it must be the way they do it now".

Daughter was very sore for a week or so but now it doesn't really look any different.

She is still wearing retainers at night for the next six months and orthodontist said the gap will not close completely.

[Countjc]

I've been meaning to post here all week but not had the chance but just to add that my son was another tongue-tied baby and also has this. In fact I only noticed it about 3 weeks ago when I was looking in his mouth at his teeth and noticed it. I guessed it might be linked to the tongue tie but this perhaps explains why, even after the op, he had so many issues breastfeeding.

He has been fine with lumpy food so far and too young (11 months) for me to notice any speech issues. My best friend is a paediatrician and was seeing her boss today who happends to specialise in speech as well so she was going to question her and I will report back.

My husbands main concern is that he wont be able to wear a gum shield for rugby......!

[Gussy]

There's a doctor in the states called Dr Brian Palmer and he has extensive knowledge of all things frenulums! There's a very interesting (if slightly scary/not for the faint hearted) presentation on his website, which I found very informative. I haven't posted as like I say it's very sciency (lots of surgical pictures), so it may not be for everyone, but for those interested it's worth a read. Here's a snippet on breastfeeding:

88 - There are also consequences of labial (on the lip side) frenums. The consequences are usually more esthetic in nature but they can impact breastfeeding as well. They can also lead to orthodontic failures if not addressed before orthodontics. It is best to address them as soon as the oral surgeon and parent feel the patient would be able to tolerate the procedure. This procedure is not routinely done on a newborn because more muscle tissue is involved, but in rare cases, it might need to be addressed if it interferes with breastfeeding. The labial frenum can interfere with breastfeeding by being so tight that the upper lip cannot lift up or flange high enough to make a good seal around the breast while the infant is trying to breastfeed.

[supergolden88]

I can't believe I did not realise this until TODAY but my daughter who is five has this exact problem. Her top front teeth are really gappy and also slightly pushed out - I thought it had something to do with her chronic thumbsucking but I took a close look today and she has a very thick and short upper lip frenulum which is sort of attached to the gums. Not describing very well...

Anyway she never had any problems breastfeeding at all was breastfed exclusively for 8 months... but now am thinking she may have to have it snipped. Her top lip can barely be pulled away from her gums.

Has anyone had this procedure done as a child /to their children? Please let me know more - PM or post here.

Many thanks!