Using LightScalpel CO2 Laser to Treat Tongue & Lip Ties

In your mouth, you should see a band of tissue that connects the lips to the gums or the tongue to the floor of the mouth. This band is called a frenulum or frenum and is a mucosal attachment containing muscle and connective tissue fibers. At times when the frenum restricts normal movement, your baby or child may need special care for mobility and comfort.

At Sprout and Smile, we invested in a gentle yet effective LightScalpel CO₂ laser, enabling us to fully release tongue and lip ties with minimal discomfort, scarring, and bleeding at a faster recovery time.

Dr. Brenda chose the LightScalpel CO2 laser with her patients in mind, allowing for increased precision for full release.

tongue tie

Tongue Ties

When the frenulum under the tongue is too short or too tight, it restricts the tongue's placement and mobility, resulting in functional issues that affect swallowing, speech, and breathing. This could mean difficulty breastfeeding for your infant, trouble with speech articulation for your developing child, and sleep issues if your child mouth-breathes.

lip tie

Lip Ties

A lip tie is a labial frenulum that is abnormally tight or thick. It can cause difficulty lifting the lip as required for nursing, feeding, speech, or for cleaning the teeth.

Signs and Symptoms

    • Clicking sounds during feeding

    • Sliding on and off the breast

    • Irritable and fussiness after feeding

    • Frequent acid reflux or spit-up after feedings

    • Losing weight or having poor weight gain

    • Blisters or cracks on their lips

    • Difficulty bottle feeding

    • Creased, flattened, or blanched nipples after nursing

    • Cracked, bruised, or blistered nipples

    • Inefficient long feeds, hungry soon after

    • Frequent plugged milk ducts/mastitis

    • Your infant is chewing or biting on the breast

    • Milk spilling out the sides of baby's mouth, due to inefficient milk transfer

    • Speech delay/affected speech

    • Picky with food textures

    • Gags easily on food or liquid

    • Crowding and teeth problem

    • Open mouth breathing

    • Snoring

    • Dental cavities

    • Narrow palate

    • Dental crowding

What to expect?

lip and tongue tie doctor in kirkland

  • A comprehensive evaluation will include your child’s medical and birthing history, child’s symptoms, mother’s symptoms, an oral functional assessment, oral visual assessment, education on proper suck and swallow, how the release is done, and aftercare.

  • If a frenectomy is indicated, we usually have the availability to do it within the appointment that same day. You are more than welcome to have your lactation consultant present for the procedure. Dr. Brenda will help your baby latch to breast or bottle and makes sure that you and your baby are comfortable and recovered. Brenda highly recommends following up with an IBCLC NO LATER than 3 days after the procedure for optimal results.

  • Aftercare includes gentle exercises that are both in and outside of the baby's mouth. The exercises encourage tongue and lip movement during the healing phase after a frenectomy to encourage flexibility of the wound site.

  • You and your baby will follow up usually within a few days to a week to check on healing, depending on your personalized care plan. Our attentive team will be standing by after hours should you need any urgent concerns addressed.