[Paddlepop]

My DD is 2yrs 8 mths old. I have just realised that she can't move her tongue in an upward direction ie lick her top lip or point her tongue up towards her nose. She can stick her tongue out in a downwards direction quite well and can wiggle it side to side and can curl the tip of her tongue under her tongue. She can't curl her tongue so the the tip curls over her tongue so that the underside is exposed. She doesn't seem to be able to move it upwards at all.

My DH and I bravely felt inside her mouth last night and the frenulum/frenum that attaches the tongue to the bottom of the mouth is very hard and doesn't seem to be very stretchy at all. It is also quite close to the front of her mouth. When she sticks her tongue right out she has a very small heart shape at the tip of her tongue but my GP and a peadiatric dentist have both said that she doesn't have tongue tie. Her teeth are all through, and normal and healthy. My mother's instinct is telling me that something is wrong though.

She also has a lot of trouble with speech (have seen a speech pathologist) and can't pronounce many words properly. She constantly makes noise though: she almost never shuts up! I have had her hearing tested and it is normal. Eating is another area that she has trouble with. She has only recently started eating meat or anything soft that needs decent chewing. She can easily eat carrot (whole carrot, stolen from the kitchen bench during dinner preparation!), apple and crunchy biscuits.

Has anyone else had a child who couldn't move their tongue upwards or had tongue tie? What did you do about it and what type of doctor or dentist did you see? Obviously I will be seeing my GP and raising my concerns about DD's tongue with her. Just wondering what other people's experience with this type of situation has been.

This post has been edited by Paddlepop: 01/02/2013, 01:22 AM

[Paddlepop]

Anyone?

[millie_11]

Hello - my 2.5 year old was diagnosed with a tongue tie straight after birth and it was snipped when he was 4 days old - but the hopefully useful thing I wanted to mention was that there is a current thread about this exact topic in the 5-8 year forum with a number of experiences in there. Hopefully that will help.

[Jenflea]

I've got a 2.5yr old with almost word for word the exact same thing!
Except she's never had a problem eating (or breastfeeding) but we've noticed she can't get her tongue to point up towards her nose.
I've had her hearing tested and am waiting to get her speech assessed(my parents think she's behind, i doubt it but am willing to be told yea or nay by a professional, not a grandparent with less than perfect hearing. Rant over lol).
She has lots of words and puts 2 or 3 together, BUT her pronunciation isn't good.
She also never stops vocalising! Drives me a bit nuts somedays lol.
So, no real help but almost identical position.

[Paddlepop]

millie_11 Thank you for telling me about the thread in 5-8 years. I have read it now, and wouldn't have known about it otherwise. I am on holidays where anything requiring digital reception is very patchy, ie TV, mobile phones and mobile internet, so I am currently EB starved until night time when the signal improves unless the wind blows. It took me a while just to get enough signal to get onto here tonight!

Jenflea I have an appointment for my DD to see our GP next Wednesday to I will update you with what happens. I'm currently on holidays with DH, DD, my mum and dad and my brother and his DDs. Mum and Dad can both see that there is something wrong with DD's tongue. At least I know now that it isn't just me being paranoid!

This post has been edited by Paddlepop: 02/10/2012, 08:44 PM

[crackles]

My ds had a really severe tongue tie that wasn't diagnosed til he was nearly 1! He had no problem bf or eating so we didn't pick it up (would have thought it was picked up at birth tho) It got picked up when we went to see paedeatrician about a totally unrelated issue. We got it operated on day after his first bday.
Most drs etc aren't concerned if the child can poke their tongue out just past their bottom lip

I'd get it checked out if I were u tho sounds like it will(does) hinder speech

[Paddlepop]

Justed wanted to update after taking my DD to our GP today. She agreed that DD does have a tongue tie and has referred us to have a specialist look at it. We'll be seeing the surgeon who removed my wisdom teeth in August. I'd already made an appointment with the specialist before I saw the GP, and that appointment will be in 3 weeks.

I'm annoyed that it took watching Embarrassing Bodies on Ch.9 for me to realise that she was tongue tied when I've had my GP check my DD quite a few times, and paid a fancy paediatric dentist $186 to be told that she didn't have tongue tie. The paed dentist checked that she could put her tongue out and down but didn't bother to check the upward movement of her tongue. He put a drop of water on her upper lip for her to lick off but she didn't. She wiped it off with her hand instead. He then didn't try again to get her to move her tongue upwards. I won't be going back to him again. And she does have the typical heart-shaped tongue tip but all of the health professionals I saw said that it was small and didn't matter. It might be small to them but it matters for my DD's speech.

Has anyone had a child go through tongue tie surgery, and have any tips/hints/info about helping my DD through the recovery? She will be at least 2y9mths by the time she has surgery.

[amanda1982]

Hi there,

My son, now nearly 5 also had a tongue tie. He was unable to tolerate lumpy foods. After so many doctors appointments, and not starting to speak his speech therapist finally diagnosed him with a tongue tie. He had the operation when he was 18 months.

The operation was so quick I didn't even have time to go and grab a coffee, he was in recovery and awake in no time and we were going home an hour later. That afternoon he was running around and was eating properly that night. He wasn't in any pain and would definitely recommend it even though our paediatrician said no studies shows it helps?????

Lots of cuddles, yogurt and ice cream and she will be fine in no time.

[ros_g]

It is interesting to see that many of you say that speech has been affected by tongue tie. my DD1 & my DS both has tongue tie & both were released when they were around 1 month old.

In both cases the paediatricians (after birth) said its nothing to worry about & that as long as it doesn't affect b/f then nothing needs to be done. - most GP's also have this idea.

Both of mine did have trouble b/f & after seeing a lactation consultant with DD1 who had done studies in the UK we decided to have it released. Her studies did show that issues can arise later in life with speech & removing food from teeth & not being able to 'french kiss' as she put it

Good luck with the surgery Paddlepop - she will be fine!

[Paddlepop]

Thanks ros_g. A few days ago there was a thread in the birth to 6 months forum about tongue tie and lucky 2 suggested that I look up the work of Dr Brian Palmer in the USA. He did a lot of research and work about tongue tie and the problems associated with it. His website is http://www.brianpalmerdds.com/

One of the associated problems can be a tight frenulum between the upper lip and upper gum that can cause a large gap between the two front teeth. My DD has this. We're planning to have this cut when she has her tongue tie cut.

I had a phone call today from the clinic of the stupid fancy paediatric dentist that I took DD to who didn't properly check for tongue tie. They said that she was due for her 6 month check up and would I like to make an appointment. I told them that I wouldn't be returning to their clinic because the dentist failed to diagnose her tongue tie that now requires surgery. The dental assistant that I was talking to sounded shocked, asked for more details, apologised for the mistake and said that she would pass along the message to the dentist. That felt quite satisfying!

The stupid fancy paediatric dentist also said at our appointment that a tight upper lip frenulum didn't cause a gap between teeth, and was an old fashioned idea.

If anyone would like to know who he is, please PM me. He is in the inner western suburbs of Brisbane.

DD's initial consult with the dental surgeon is in one week. She is really excited about having her tongue fixed, but then is worried that it will hurt. I reassure her that she will have medicine so that it doesn't hurt and then she gets excited again.