Ankyloglossia

Ankyloglossia, also known as tongue-tie, is a congenital oral anomaly that may decrease mobility of the tongue tip and is caused by an unusually short, thick lingual frenulum, a membrane connecting the underside of the tongue to the floor of the mouth. Ankyloglossia varies in degree of severity from mild cases characterized by mucous membrane bands to complete ankyloglossia whereby the tongue is tethered to the floor of the mouth.

Effects

Ankyloglossia can affect eating, speech, and oral hygiene as well as have mechanical/social effects. Ankyloglossia can also prevent the tongue from contacting the anterior palate. This can then promote an infantile swallow and hamper the progression to an adult-like swallow which can result in an open bite deformity. It can also result in mandibular prognathism; this happens when the tongue contacts the anterior portion of the mandible with exaggerated anterior thrusts.

Diagnosis

According to Horton et al.,diagnosis of ankyloglossia may be difficult; it is not always apparent by looking at the underside of the tongue, but is often dependent on the range of movement permitted by the genioglossus muscles. For infants, passively elevating the tongue tip with a tongue depressor may reveal the problem. For older children, making the tongue move to its maximum range will demonstrate the tongue tip restriction. In addition, palpation of genioglossus on the underside of the tongue will aid in confirming the diagnosis.

Tongue tied (disambiguation)

Being tongue tied, medically defined as having ankyloglossia, is a condition in which the lingual frenulum (a membrane that connects the tongue to the floor of the mouth) is unusually short, causing restricted movement of the tongue.

Tongue tied may also refer to:

Film and books

Music

Other

Tongue-Tied (book)

Tongue-Tied is the tenth in a series of collections of short stories by Australian author Paul Jennings. It was released in 2002.

The stories

Tongue-Tied

A boy tries to get a rare fish for a girl in his school, believing that doing so will make her want to kiss him.

Lennie Lighthouse

A boy has teeth that glow in the dark. He has never lived with his mother. But one day, when he finds a letter mentioning where his mother might be, his friend tries to help him meet her for the first time.

Sniffex

A sequel to the Unmentionable story Ex Poser. Boffin has now invented a smell detector, which he hopes will help him find out who has been flatulating every day in class.

The Hat

A boy moves from Melbourne to the Queensland rainforest to live with his father (because his mother, who had divorced, has died). The last thing the boy has to remind him of his mother is a hat, which he always tries to retrieve every time he loses it (even if it means risking his life), but his abilities are pushed to the limit when he loses it while being ordered to stand guard over the last known individual of a species of bilby.