Frenectomy

Lingual Frenectomy

Occasionally, the muscular band that attaches the underside of the tongue to the floor of the mouth is attached too close to the tip of the tongue.  This can prevent proper tongue movement, which can affect speech and swallowing.  In situations such as this, this muscular band can also be attached abnormally high up on the gum tissue behind the back of the lower front teeth.  This can cause an excessive amount of traction on the gum tissue.  This can result in the gums pulling away from the teeth, which may allow periodontal pockets and gum disease to develop in this area.   This problem can be corrected with a simple surgical procedure known as a Lingual Frenectomy.  In this procedure, the frenum is "clipped", which then gives the tongue greater mobility and eliminates the traction on the gum tissue.  This procedure can sometimes be performed under local anesthesia, but in our younger patients (14 or younger), we normally recommend that the procedure be performed under intravenous sedation.

Labial Frenectomy

Sometimes the muscular tissue band that connects the lips to the gum tissue may be attached abnormally high, sometimes all the way up to where the gum meets the tooth.  Just as with the lingual (tongue) frenum, this abnormally high frenum can pull on the gum tissue, and cause periodontal problems.  This problem is usually detected during the adult years when growth of the jaws and face is complete, so most often we can perform this procedure under local anesthesia.