The medical and dental communities are becoming increasingly more aware of the speech and feeding difficulties associated with tongue and lip ties in infants and children. Dr. Robinson has been providing laser frenectomies (lip and tongue tie release) for patients below one year of age in-office with great results. Based on age and cooperation level, patients over the age of two years old are also candidates for the procedure either in the office or under general anesthesia.
We are pleased that so many physicians, lactation consultants, speech-language pathologists, and occupational therapists in our area have been receptive to the emerging research and have chosen Lake Area Pediatric Dental Specialists to remove this barrier to successful speech and feeding through frenectomy. We love seeing these families and hearing the success stories!
In order to better serve our patients and allow for a more successful release, these are some guidelines that we have set in place:
- Lake Area Pediatric Dental Specialists has partnered with Magnolia Pediatric Therapy’s licensed speech-language pathologists to perform a functional assessment prior to scheduling a patient for the procedure to ensure the tie(s) is contributing to dysfunction, as well as the ability to achieve optimal oral function after the release. Feeding and speech are motor learning skills, so release alone is not enough, the patient will need follow up care to train proper function, as well as implementation for active wound management.
- Lake Area Pediatric Dental Specialists does not provide laser lip/tongue tie frenectomies for aesthetic purposes. The patient must have a documented functional problem.
Please visit these websites for more about lip and tongue tie, aftercare, and additional suck training to improve procedure success.
LIGHTSCALPEL CO2 LASER
The LightScalpel CO2 laser is a device that produces a concentrated beam of light. The highly focused CO2 laser beam vaporizes, cleanly and precisely, while sealing blood vessels at the same time. Years of experience in medicine and oral surgery went into the design of the LightScalpel laser, which was made to provide superior care for patients.
WHAT IS LASER SURGERY AND HOW DOES IT WORK?
Traditional surgery with a scalpel or scissors can bruise or crush tissue. When we use the LightScalpel CO2 laser, only an intense beam of laser light interacts with the tissue. There is no mechanical trauma to the tissue and the coagulation zone is very narrow (as little as 50 microns – almost the width of a human hair).
The CO2 laser has the unique ability to vaporize or ‘erase’ tissue. The CO2 laser can be used to make incisions, as well as to remove unhealthy tissue. Our laser is so precise that it can selectively remove only a few cells at a time, if needed. At the same time, it is powerful enough to de-bulk the largest of tumors.
ARE LIGHTSCALPEL LASER PROCEDURES SAFE?
When used according to accepted guidelines by a trained practitioner, the laser is as safe as other instruments. You will wear special protective glasses, just as you would to protect your eyes from sun exposure.
