Lingual frenulum and malocclusion: An overlooked tissue or a minor issue.

CONTEXT: Tongue-tie (more formally known as ankyloglossia) is a congenital anomaly characterized by an abnormally short lingual frenulum, which may restrict mobility of the tongue tip impairing its ability to fulfill its functions. The clinical significance of ankyloglossia is varied; rarely symptomatic to a host of problems including infant feeding difficulties, speech disorders, malocclusions, and others. AIMS: The need of this study was to evaluate the occurrence and severity of tongue-tie and its association with the type of malocclusions in two populations and also to correlate the various malocclusion traits with the grades of tongue-tie. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A total of 700 school children in the age group of 9-17 years were examined for the presence of tongue-tie, 350 from regular schools and 350 from special schools. The presence was evaluated, measured, and graded into Grades I-V according to Kotlow's method. The malocclusion was assessed according to Angle's classification. Severity of crowding was assessed by Little's irregularity index in each case. Various other malocclusion traits were visually assessed, in relation to the positions of the teeth. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: Spearman's rank correlation method was used to test the relationship between type of malocclusions, grades of tongue-tie and severity of crowding. Significance was considered at the (P < 0.05) level. RESULTS: Statistically significant differences were seen between grades of tongue-tie and Angle's types of malocclusion and Spearman's correlation between them showed negative correlation. The Spearman's correlation showed a negative correlation between tongue-tie grades and severity of crowding. CONCLUSIONS: As the grade of tongue-tie increased, its association with Classes I and II malocclusion decreased. The lower grades of tongue-tie are associated with increased lower incisor crowding. Shorter, tight frenulums are more associated with maxillary constriction, anterior open bite, and spacing of the lower anteriors.

Ankyloglossia among children of regular and special schools in karnataka, India: a prevalence study.

BACKGROUND: Tongue-tie (more formally known as ankyloglossia) is a congenital anomaly characterized by an abnormally short lingual frenulum, which may restrict the mobility of the tongue tip impairing its ability to fulfil its functions. Ankyloglossia is uncommon, but not rare. Incidence figures reported in the literature vary widely, ranging from 0.02% to 4.8%. Incidences of upto 10.7% have been reported. Since the literature provides no uniformity of information with regard to the incidence of tongue tie. The aim of this study was to evaluate the occurrence of tonguetie in general population and mentally challenged population, measure the grades of tongue-tie and also to determine the relations of gender with tongue-tie. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Seven hundred school children in the age group of 9-17 years were examined for the presence of tongue-tie, 350 from regular schools and 350 from special schools. The presence of tongue-tie was evaluated, measured and graded into grades 1 to 5 according to KOTLOW's method and data subjected to statistical analysis. RESULTS: Significantly higher incidence of 16.4% population having tongue-tie was identified, of which 18.57% were from general schools and 13.71% from special schools but the differences were not statistically significant. Males showed greater incidence than females and grades I, II, III were more predominantly seen than grade IV, but the differences were not significant statistically. CONCLUSION: Diagnostic criteria and definitive classifying systems are needed to allow for further comparative studies.