What is a Frenum and How Does is Affect the Teeth?
Teeth only form part of your child’s facial profile and when you visit Lakeside Dental Spa you’ll find we look at our younger patients faces as a whole, including the gums, facial bones and jaws. The gums in particular can make a huge difference to appearance and one of the most common problems is caused by the frenum, a band of tissue that is right between your upper front teeth and which connects the inside of your upper lip to your gums. If the frenum is too tight or too large, then it can affect the overall position of the upper teeth, causing a space to open up between the front teeth and it can affect speech.We also have a lower frenum that connects the underside of the tongue to the floor of the mouth. This frenum can be too thick or too short, making it difficult to move the tongue correctly, causing a condition called tongue tie. Tongue tie affects breast feeding, also if not corrected, it prevents the tongue from sitting in the roof of the mouth, limiting the size of the upper jaw, causing teeth crowding and bite problems.
What is a Frenectomy and how is it Carried Out?
A frenectomy is a procedure to remove the frenum and may be carried out as part of treatment to help correct the position of the upper front teeth. Dr Khaled will determine the best time to carry out this small procedure depending on your children’s development. We will often use our soft tissue laser for a frenectomy as this is more comfortable for our little patients and healing is faster. A frenectomy only takes a few minutes and your child might feel some minor discomfort for the first 12-24 hours.
For more information, please call us on (07) 4191 4787 or visit the practice at 180 Main St, Kawungan QLD 4655