Signs that you may be suffering from oral ties or restrictions:
Infants
Are you experiencing frustration, latch issues, or pain while breastfeeding? Are you and your baby having difficulty with bottle feeding? Is the baby gassy, experiencing reflux, or frequently spitting up all the time? Are you suffering from plugged ducts or mastitis?
These are al potential signs of oral ties or restrictions!
Toddlers, Teens, Adults
Can you touch the roof of your mouth with your tongue when opening widely? Are you struggling with sleep issues, food texture issues, speech challenges, recurrent ear infections, sinus or upper respiratory infections, hyperactivity, or inattention?
These are all potential signs of oral ties or restrictions!
What are oral ties?
There are three types of oral ties: tongue, lip, and buccal (cheek). Tongue and lip ties refer to an abnormally tight band of tissue (frenum) that can restrict movement. It is a complex set of muscles that are crucial for oral function, facial development, and airway health. These frenula can be found throughout your body and only pose an issue when become too constrictive to reduce the necessary range of motion or movement.
Once identified, if the abnormal right frenum is not released, it can affect future facial growth, airway health, and neurological development and lead to many other issues, such as speech, feeding, nursing, neurological development, attention, breath, quality, and sleep issues.
These restrictive bands of tissue play a more significant role in overall growth and development by delaying or preventing the integration of primitive reflexes. Primitive reflexes are fundamental to an invisibility to feed effectively and develop oral motor skills. These reflexes may not function are in a great properly if one or all restrictions exist, leading to developmental challenges.
Our approach…it’s all connected
In our practice, we understand that the body is an interconnected system. While a frenectomy can be valuable in addressing oral restrictions, they are most effective when integrated into a holistic treatment plan. Complementary therapies such as bodywork, craniosacral therapy, and feeding therapy support reflex integration, optimize nervous system function and enhance overall outcomes.
By addressing the root causes of feeding and airway issues through a multidisciplinary approach, we aim to improve not just oral-motor function but also broader aspects of health and development. An oral release is not a “magic bullet”—it’s part of a comprehensive strategy to support airway health, neurological development, and whole-body healing.
Below are a few aspects of our multidisciplinary approach to airway health.
Ensuring complete functional integration
Coordination of Breathing, Sucking, and Swallowing
Uncovering Gastrointestinal Issues
Addressing Underlying Primitive Reflex Retention
Assessing Compensatory Habits
Identifying Emotional and Behavioral Factors
Ensuring Complete Functional Integration
Even after a frenectomy, the muscles and oral structures must learn to function optimally. A baby or child may require therapy to retrain their oral motor patterns, as the brain and muscles must adapt to the new range of motion.
Coordination of Breathing, Sucking, and Swallowing
Feeding requires precise coordination of these movements. Early feeding reflexes form the foundation for speech chewing and swallowing skills. While a release can improve tongue mobility, it may not address broader muscular skeletal coordination or integration issues.
Addressing Underlying Primitive Reflex Retention
Primitive reflexes like rooting and sucking strongly influence feeding. If these reflexes are retained or poorly integrated due to earlier restrictions, a frenectomy alone won’t address the neurological aspect of feeding difficulties.
Uncovering Gastrointestinal Issues
Delayed gastrointestinal development or conditions like reflux can exacerbate feeding problems, making it difficult to identify the tie as the sole cause. We address underlying issues and possible root causes to promote overall health.
Assessing Compensatory Habits
Compensatory habits, such as jaw clenching or inefficient sucking patterns, can be developed as a way for the body to function with a restriction. These habits often persist post-release and require therapy to correct. Identifying and addressing these habits ensures that they won’t continue to hinder development.
Identifying Emotional and Behavioral Factors
Feeding aversions or anxieties related to discomfort or past struggles may remain even after the physical restriction is released. Addressing these requires a holistic approach, often involving occupational or feeding therapy.
Baby Got Bite!
This simple treatment offers a number of benefits. In addition to improving some breastfeeding problems in infants, it can also improve speech problems caused by a tongue tie, promotes proper oral and facial growth, supports musculoskeletal development, behavioral development and supports airway development and reduces future airway dysfunctions such as sleep apnea. We take a well rounded approach to this procedure using myofascial release and myofunctional therapy, manipulations (naturopathic adjustments) with a treatment plan that includes assessment of total health (GI health, structural & nervous system development).
Frequently Asked Questions
General
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A minor surgical procedure that involves using a C02 laser to correct/release oral ties (tongue, lip, cheek or buccal) OR tongue-tie and lip-tie conditions which prevent airway dysfunctions, restriction of head and neck movements, headaches, etc. as the child develops. This procedure is very short and your baby will be back in your arms in minutes to nurse and cuddle.
Do you take insurance?
How do I schedule an appointment or consultation?
You can schedule via text or reach out to us via email at hi@drjghormley.com.
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Research shows that oral ties become restricted overtime when they are not addressed early on. They can present with neurological development challenges
What does the treatment cost?
Frenectomy
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A minor surgical procedure that involves using a C02 laser to correct/release oral ties (tongue, lip, cheek or buccal) OR tongue-tie and lip-tie conditions which prevent airway dysfunctions, restriction of head and neck movements, headaches, etc. as the child develops. This procedure is very short and your baby will be back in your arms in minutes to nurse and cuddle.
What is a Co2 frenectomy?
A minor surgical procedure that involves using a C02 laser to correct/release oral ties (tongue, lip, cheek or buccal) OR tongue-tie and lip-tie conditions which prevent airway dysfunctions, restriction of head and neck movements, headaches, etc. as the child develops. This procedure is very short and your baby will be back in your arms in minutes to nurse and cuddle.
Does it hurt the baby?
Because no anesthesia is used during this procedure, we want the baby breathing and crying to know they are fully engaged in their bodies. The initial onset of the laser does sting but numbs the laser area up to 5 hours.
Does it take long?
Typically, the procedure take approximately 3 to 5 minutes.
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Research shows that oral ties become restricted overtime when they are not addressed early on. They can present with neurological development challenges
Can kids “grow out” of an oral tie without treatment?
Research shows that oral ties become restricted overtime when they are not addressed early on. They can present with neurological development challenges.
What happens during the procedure?
Babies – they are gently swaddled and wrapped. Their eyes are covered and the clinical assistant will do gentle CST while the provider performs the release in order to help the tissues and nervous system relax.
Older kids and adults – We give local anesthetics topically and injection to take tension off the tissue being released. The older patient is in a reclining table/chair for comfort.
We find that soft tissue manipulation like myofascial release along w/adjustments & laser frenectomy has helped significantly in letting people gain more mobility in their upper MSK system.
What can happen if we don’t correct oral ties now?
In addition to supporting a mother and child’s breastfeeding journey, treating oral ties as a baby helps set them up for a lifetime of proper oral growth, digestive health, musculoskeletal development, and breathing through functional airway optimization. Untreated oral ties restrict growth of the jaw and oral developmental functions which initiates a degeneration process which can lead to teeth grinding, TMJ issues, airway dysfunction, neck pain, headaches and more.
Schedule Your Consultation Today
Book an initial consultation to learn more about our Baby Got Bite! program and see if you or your child are a candidate.
Please provide your full name, contact information, and a brief description of why you’re interested in this program and our team will reach out to you!