Brian Matthews8 years ago
★★★★★
Great team and always a great experience!
A frenum is the small band of tissue connecting your lip to your gum or your tongue to the floor of your mouth. When it’s too tight or attaches too low, it restricts movement and causes real problems — for nursing infants, developing children, and adults. A frenectomy is a quick, minimally invasive release that resolves the restriction.
Gum recession paths: A tight or highly low-attaching labial frenum pulls gum tissue continuously away from front central roots, triggering progressive recession.
Diastema boundaries: A frenum attaching deeply between the front teeth blocks natural gaps from closing properly and can cause rapid relapse following orthodontics if not treated.
Denture fit stability: High or hyper-prominent frenum attachments can constantly interfere with denture base stability, repeatedly breaking suction fields.
Adult speech: Tongue-tied adults often spend a lifetime compensating for a restricted range of motion — a release can significantly improve articulation and oral function.
These two advanced procedures are frequently grouped together, but they serve entirely distinct structural purposes. Separating them helps you identify exactly which solution addresses your needs.
Anatomical Clarifications
The labial frenum connects the interior upper lip directly to the gum tissue situated above the front central teeth. When it attaches too low or presents as too thick, the lip cannot flange freely — complicating nursing attachment in infants, or triggering accelerated gum recession or permanent wide gaps in adults.
The lingual frenum anchors the underside membrane of the tongue straight down to the floor of the mouth. When it presents as too short, thick, or tight, overall tongue range of motion is restricted — severely impairing infant latch mechanics, childhood speech development, and adult swallowing function.
At Whitehall Dental Center, soft-tissue frenectomies are performed using state-of-the-art dental lasers rather than traditional surgical scissors or scalpels. The focused laser light energy vaporizes the restrictive tissue band with micro-precision. This process seals local blood vessels and nerve endings instantly, resulting in virtually no bleeding, zero requirement for stitches, and a vastly more comfortable experience. For infants, a gentle topical numbing gel is often completely sufficient, whereas children and adults receive a mild local anesthetic block. The entire release takes only a few minutes. Post-operative care involves simple, routine stretching exercises at home for a few weeks to guarantee the tissue heals openly without re-attaching.
The Clinical Journey
The frenum attachment is thoroughly evaluated both visually and functionally. We confirm if the tie is the source of symptoms — not all tight frenums require a release.
Topical anesthetic gel is applied for infants, while a mild local anesthetic is used for older children and adults to ensure the procedure is completely comfortable.
The restricted frenum tissue is safely released using our advanced dental laser. The procedure takes only a few minutes, with no bleeding and no sutures needed.
Infants can breastfeed immediately. We demonstrate the necessary post-procedure stretching exercises, which are essential to prevent the tissue from re-attaching as it heals.
Our soft-tissue laser provides a significantly gentler experience for infants and children. By eliminating scalpels and stitches, we ensure faster healing and minimal discomfort.
We provide compassionate care for newborns, toddlers, children, and adults alike. Our experienced team tailors our communication and approach to the comfort needs of each age group.
We do not release every frenum we see. We carefully confirm that the restriction is the actual cause of reported feeding, speech, or gum issues before recommending treatment.
Great team and always a great experience!
Always very helpful and informative. They take Ashley's insurance, and they definitely do good work.
Been going to Dr. Matthews for a few years and will continue going back, despite having to drive over an hour. Tried…
My daughter and I have been coming to Matthews Dental for over 15 years. The service as well as their sincerity has…
I needed an emergency tooth extraction and Dr. Mathews was able to get me in within a couple of hours. The office…
Great professional service and really nice people! I would recommend it to my friends.
Our whole family is seen by Dr. Matthews! Nothing but good things to say about him, his team and our dental work!
Truly this is one of the best dental offices I’ve ever been to. I moved to the area and had been looking…
Had my braces done here, and it turned out great. Very nice office and staff makes me feel like I'm appreciated. Even…
Matthews Family Dental is great! My kids have gotten BRACES from Dr. Matthews and their smiles are looking great!
I'm from out of town. I had a dental issue that needed to be taken care of ASAP. I called Dr. Matthews…
excellent. Helped in a pinch.
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