The Ortho Missing Link: Could it Be Tied to the Tongue?

While dental clinicians are keenly aware of the tongue thrust and its effect on anterior open bites, it leads one to ponder how other dysfunctions of the tongue may warrant orthodontic concerns rarely considered in the past.

Ankyloglossia, a short lingual frenum or “tongue-tie”, while defined as the restriction of normal tongue movement by the embryological remnant of tissue of the midline between the undersurface of the tongue and the floor of the mouth¹ varies greatly in appearance and can be present with widely varying limitations of functional mobility. (Fig. 1) When the restricted tongue acquires compensatory muscle actions in order to function, these unhealthy myofunctional patterns become entrenched as negative sequela. Proactively identifying these difficulties early and addressing them appropriately is what we will be discussing in this article.