Ankyloglossia: surgical options and a case report

Abstract

Ankyloglossia (tongue tie) is a rare oral anomaly characterized by mild to severe tongue restriction. It is associated with breastfeeding, speech, psychosocial, mechanical and skeletal problems. This paper reports a case of a 10 year old girl with moderate ankyloglossia complicated by speech and articulation problems. She was managed by a simple but safe technique – horizontal to vertical frenoplasty with the aid of a scalpel. Other surgical alternatives in the literature are discussed.

Keywords Ankyloglossia, frenotomy, frenectomy, frenoplasty, mucosal graft, split skin graft.