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1 Institute of General Practice and Primary Care, ScHARR, University of Sheffield, UK
2 Mother and Infant Research Unit, Department of Health Sciences, University of York, UK
Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Prof. D M B Hall
Storrs House Farm, Storrs Lane, Sheffield S6 6GY, UK; d.hall@sheffield.ac.uk
Keywords: tongue tie; ankyloglossia; breast feeding; frenulotomy
| The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below. |
The resurgence of interest in breast feeding has been accompanied by a lively debate about the significance of "tongue tie" or ankyloglossia. Symptoms attributed to tongue tie include nipple pain and trauma, difficulty in the baby attaching to the breast, frequent feeding, and uncoordinated sucking. These problems may result in the mother deciding to terminate breast feeding prematurely, slow weight gain for the baby, and even hypernatraemic dehydration. Speech defects have also been attributed to tongue tie. Strong views have been expressed by many eminent authors on the subject (box 1
).
"In observing a very large series of newborn babies, we have never seen a tongue that had to be clipped" (McEnery and Gaines, Chicago,1940)
"While tongue tie is not nearly as common as members of the public believe, nevertheless a genuine case is occasionally seen and the condition is not entirely mythical
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