Children with tongue brakes: Causes, signs and ways to care for them

Sticky tongue is a mild birth defect. This situation occurs when the thin film connecting the tongue to the floor of the mouth is shortened, thick, and the movement of the tongue is restricted, making it difficult for the baby to suck, swallow ... 

In this article, aFamilyToday Health invites you to learn about the causes of this malformation in children, the effects and methods of treatment and how to take care of children after radiectomy.

What is blade win?

Sticky tongue is one of the birth defects that occurs when the thick, short connection from the tip of the tongue to the floor of the mouth inhibits normal tongue movements. With this deformity, the movement of the tongue is limited, so the baby may have difficulty breastfeeding , eating, drinking, swallowing ... In some cases, the child has a tongue-tie but does not encounter any problems. Meanwhile, many children need to undergo a small surgery to fix the condition.

It is reported that the proportion of boys experiencing this defect is higher than that of girls and is often related to a family factor.

Signs to recognize

Here are the typical signs in a child with a tongue that you can easily recognize:

Your baby has trouble feeding

The child's tongue brake is abnormally short

Your child's tongue cannot move to the sides

The tongue cannot be lifted so that the upper jaw can be touched

For young children, when the baby cries, the tip of the tongue is often in the shape of a V

The baby's tongue cannot extend 1–2mm out of the lower jaw.

Reason

The cause of this tongue structural abnormality is not known at this time. In some cases, health experts claim that certain genetic factors are involved.

What difficulties can a child with tongue bumps face?

These abnormal tongue defects can affect a baby's mouth development, as well as how your baby eats, swallows and talks. Children with tongue traps often have the following problems:

Difficulty in breastfeeding: Babies with this malformation often have difficulty in breastfeeding because they are unable to latch properly. The difficulty of latching on the nipple makes it possible for the baby to bite the mother while feeding instead of sucking the nipple, and the baby doesn't receive enough nutrients to develop.

Lack of lower incisors : Sticky brake cord leads to the formation of a space between the two teeth of the lower jaw, which gradually causes teeth to be displaced, causing loss of aesthetics.

Difficulty speaking: People with tongue brakes often have difficulty in pronouncing sounds like: t, d, s, th, r, l, and z.

Poor oral hygiene: People with this defect often have difficulty removing food debris from the teeth with their tongue. This increases the risk of tooth decay , gingivitis.

Difficulty in some activities such as: licking lips, playing musical instruments ...

Diagnose

This malformation can be diagnosed through observing and measuring the braking cord length. Based on the measured distance from the floor of the mouth to the underside of the tongue, the doctors will evaluate the baby's condition according to the following levels:

Degree 1: Distance is from 12–16mm

Degree 2: Distance is from 8–11mm

Grade 3: The distance is from 3–7mm

Grade 4: Distance less than 3mm.

Case:

Children with tongue brakes at degrees 1 and 2: do not need surgery but additional monitoring because this baby's condition can improve on its own.

In case of sticking wire brakes at degrees 3 and 4: the baby needs surgery.

Children with tongue brake: When should I take my baby to the doctor?

Take your child to the pediatrician if he or she has the following problems:

Sticky tongue brakes make it difficult for the baby to suckle

Children have difficulty speaking because their tongue is not flexible

Baby has difficulty with eating, drinking, swallowing ...

Where should the child get surgery?

Many parents, when they know that their child has a tongue brake that requires surgery, they are very concerned about whether the tongue brake is dangerous, what complications may be, or what to abstain from after the surgery.

According to pediatric experts, surgery to cut the tongue is quite simple, not dangerous. However, in order to ensure the safety of the child and limit the risk of complications, you should have your child perform surgery in well-equipped medical facilities.

With a grade 3 or 4 disability, the child is usually recommended for surgery at around 3 months of age. If your baby is having trouble breastfeeding but for some reason cannot have surgery right away, you should consult your doctor for the best way to support your baby to breastfeed .

Tongue braid surgery is usually local anesthetic and can be discharged within the day, the baby can breastfeed or drink cold milk right after 30 minutes. In case of anesthesia, the baby needs to be hospitalized to be monitored and cared for by medical staff after surgery.

Notes on the care of children after surgery stick brakes

After having your child perform tongue removal surgery, you need to pay attention to a few things:

After surgery, at the spot where the tongue is cut, usually white stains appear and will disappear after a few days.

You need to monitor the child, if the wound is bleeding or has unusual signs, notify the medical staff immediately to minimize the risk of infection.

Give the child medication as prescribed by the doctor (if any).

For older babies, you should not let your child touch the wound to avoid infection, do not give them hard, hot foods to avoid bleeding.

Give your child plenty of water to clean his mouth

For young children: After surgery, mothers should often raise their child's tongue, pull slightly to the sides so that the tongue is flexible.

For older children: You need to guide your child to move the tongue by raising the tongue up / down, bending the tongue, bringing it to the sides, sticking out the tongue.

Hopefully, with the information shared in the article, you have a more thorough understanding of this disability and know how to take care of the child best.