Tongue Ties Part 3: Adults - A Story of Pain & Problems

As a hygienist, I knew how to identify many problems in the mouth;  cavities, gum disease, and oral cancer were on my radar. Every day I would schedule fillings, periodontal therapy, or give them a referral to a specialist to have a suspicious lesion evaluated. So, during a continuing education course about orofacial myofunctional therapy, it came as a surprise to learn I didn’t know how to properly identify a tongue tie. Even more shocking was the realization that I had lived with a tongue tie my entire life and didn’t know it! 

Most medical and dental programs do not have a specific course on tongue ties. Sometimes the topic is covered as it relates to other developmental issues such as cleft palate or trisomy 21 (Down syndrome). The only education I remember being given in hygiene school was the definition of ankyloglossia (tongue tie), and the pictures shown in the textbook were of the most severe restrictions, where the patient could not move the tip of the tongue at all. For years, “complete restriction” was my definition of a tongue tie. 

My tongue tie was what is known as a posterior tongue tie (PTT). The frenum was attached half way back on the underside of my tongue, which allowed the tip of my tongue to move freely, and looked “normal” to any unsuspecting doctor. I didn’t have any issues with speech, and besides being a “colicky” baby, I didn’t have any trouble eating past infancy. It wasn’t until I trained as a myofunctional therapist that I realized I had developed compensations that allowed me to chew and swallow; these allowed me to survive, but not thrive.

I had orthodontics and wisdom teeth extracted as a teen. The orthodontist never placed an expander, instead they used head gear and elastics to pull my upper teeth back to “correct” my bite. I have straight teeth, but because my jaws never developed wide or deep enough to accommodate all my teeth I have a high narrow palate, small arches, and a smaller airway than normal. In my 20’s I was diagnosed with TMJ disorder and given a night guard to protect my teeth from the clenching and grinding I was doing in my sleep. In my 30’s I had migraines that increased in frequency to the point I had more days with a headache than without. By my late 30’s, my neck and back pain were at an all time high, made even worse by my poor head-forward posture at my job as a dental hygienist. I had digestive issues: stomach aches, gas, bloating, constipation and/or diarrhea daily. Simply put, I was a mess.

On the path to find solutions for my pain I was getting weekly chiropractic adjustments and massage. I tried physical therapy, acupuncture, craniosacral therapy (CST), and frequency specific micro current (FSM); each of which provided some sort of relief, however the pain always returned, sometimes on the drive home. I had a visit with my GP who wrote me a prescriptions for sleeping medication and an antidepressant. I saw a neurologist after a particularly bad migraine that caused me to leave work due to loss of vision and aphasia (the inability to speak), he told me there was nothing wrong; my migraines were just due to stress. 

During my myofunctional therapy training program, I found out that my tongue tie lead to my jaws not growing and developing properly due to the fact that my tongue never rested in the roof of my mouth. My clenching and grinding could be from the fact that I couldn’t breathe while I was sleeping, so I would clench my teeth together, pulling my lower jaw and my tongue forward to open my airway. The compensations I had developed as a child required muscles in my face and neck to do the job of swallowing, which caused a significant amount of strain and tension. My jaw joint was constantly popping, clicking, and locking closed because my orthodontic treatment focused only on straightening my teeth and did not take into account how my jaws aligned. I was not properly chewing my food, because my tongue couldn’t push it from side to side over my molars, instead I was stressing my digestive system by swallowing most bites relatively whole. I was starting to get lines on my face from where the muscles around my lips, cheeks, and chin would tense and wrinkle in order to swallow. To put it mildly, I was flabbergasted. How could my tongue cause all this trouble? And, as a hygienist, how did I not know about it until now?

Luckily this story has a happy ending. I did my own myofunctional therapy and had a functional frenuloplasty by a fantastic airway dentist. As I regained proper oral rest posture and muscle function, I noticed improvements in my symptoms; my migraines resolved completely, I started sleeping without clenching or grinding (I haven’t worn a night guard in over a year), my tension relaxed and my posture improved (which helped ease my neck and back pain), and my digestion is so much better! I have even noticed the lines on my face have softened - that’s just aesthetics, but in a world where women will spend thousands on wrinkle treatments, I’ll take the natural remedy!

Not everyone who has a tongue tie will have the symptoms I had, and I can’t promise that everyone who treats their tongue tie will have the same results. I do believe that tongue ties can be the root cause for many otherwise unexplained symptoms. My hope is that in the future all children will be screened for tongue ties, and they will be treated before they can cause issues. Until then, I am making it my purpose to help others with previously unidentified tongue ties get the treatment they need to live healthier, happier lives!

If you suspect a tongue tie for yourself or your child, schedule a free consultation to see if myofunctional therapy can help! 

To learn more about tongue ties and their effects, I recommend the book “Tongue-Tied” by Richard Baxter, DMD, MS