I’m a middle aged guy, who, a few years ago, was off handedly told by a dental hygienist while getting my teeth cleaned, that I was tongue tied. I’ve had a flap of skin under my tongue which holds it down, it isn’t severe, but it does restrict my tongues mobility. For instance, I can’t really stick my tongue out very far (causes issues for… certain… activities). And I can’t reach the back of my rear molars, something I’m told normal people can do with ease. But it isn’t a severe tongue tie by any means. I’ve also been told that when talking I use different mouth movements then other people for some words, I had no idea what that meant until I started working full time remote and was on camera all the time. I’ve seen out going video of my self and can spot the weirdness in talking that was referenced.
The dentist has painted this whole story about how my level of tongue tie prevented my palette from widening like it should have as a baby, resulting in a higher palette which pushed up into the sinuses, and also made my face more narrow then it would have been. Obviously, they can’t prove any of this, but it’s interesting to consider.
My dentist office has added a whole department dedicated to correcting tongue ties, and they push this very heavily. I’m just worried I’d regret having it corrected, but it sure would be nice to have more tongue mobility for the reasons I’ve described.
Are there any other Lemmings who are in a similar scenario to me? Did you go through with correcting the issue, did you like the end result, did you regret it? What was recovery time like?
I don’t have the condition, but I’d suggest getting a second opinion at least to verify that you’d actually get the changes you’d expect.
I don’t have this condition but it’s probably worth getting a second opinion before opting into a procedure. Dental practices have been known to push work on patients to make money. Not saying that’s happening in your case but if a second practice agrees, you can be all the more sure they’re being upfront with you.
My grandfather had this, and had it corrected in his 40s, iirc. Before my time by a country mile, but my mom has talked about it. He did not regret it, but that’s as much as I know.
When I was a kid that little flap of skin would get stuck between my front bottom teeth and it hurt like hell. They basically touched it with a razor just enough to draw blood and it lengthened it enough not to happen anymore. Like, the tiniest, tiniest cut. I doubt that’s helpful, but thought I’d share.
I have nothing useful to say but thank you for educating me that this is a real thing and not just a colloquialism.
That’s how I found out too! In 2019, I was at the dentist for a cleaning and check up. The dental hygienist had her hands in my mouth as they do and said “Oh, you’re a bit tongue tied”, I thought she was being cheeky that I was talkative since she had her hands in my mouth. When I could talk next, I asked what she meant, and she said the flap of skin I have attached on the bottom of my tongue, anchoring it to the floor of my mouth shouldn’t be there. And that it’s called being tongue tied, they correct it in infants when they find it.
So I had the same response you did, I had no idea it was just a phrase we use to say someone wasn’t talkative, but rather something physically that someone can have!
I agree with the thoughts on second opinions. It sounds like you cope fine with your current situation already, and to be honest I’m skeptical much would change. At your age, the way you speak would be a very ingrained muscle memory thing. Maybe you could change it with some concerted effort but I suspect even with the surgery you’d still tend to speak the way you currently do.
I think the big argument for is more so that I can’t reach the back surface of my molars, so I can’t clean them like normal people do. The other thing I have trouble with is, and I will not mince words, is performing oral sex. I’m a straight guy, and the day after performing oral sex, I can feel a little spot on the flap under my tongue that tears a little from trying to stick my tongue out. It’s a pretty good indicator that being tongue tied is in fact reducing my tongues mobility in a bunch of ways.
I do agree with those saying to get a second opinion. Since my dentist literally built a whole facility dedicated to fixing tongue ties, I feel like they’re not going to be honest since they stand to benefit from it. But on the other hand, it causes me problems, and it can fix those problems. I’m quite torn, with any elective surgery, there is always the worry that I’d regret it.
I know from own experience that a short tongue tie makes it harder to become a cunning linguist.
My tongue tie scrapes on the lower teeth when sticking my tongue out. (I think my situation is a lot better than yours) Still, it might be more comfortable to have a doctor make a small incision instead of scraping and tearing it when things get steamy.
It sounds like we have a similar level of tongue tie! I can stick my tongue out, but not quite as far as I would be able to if it weren’t for the tongue tie. Yeah I’m leaning toward having it corrected, I had the dentist check what insurance would cover and I’d only have to color 180 out of pocket so that isn’t too bad.
Ah I see. Those do seem like issues it could improve. Hope whatever you decide works out well for you.
All I can say is that I was born that way and it was corrected as an infant.
No insight from living with it or any ability to compare my life with it having been done.
I’d say I’m glad that was done and not so glad about the circumcision.
I had this procedure done as a child. Very simple, zero problems. I never even remembered it before your post.
I was born with one and it was partially corrected at birtb. I can’t stick my tongue out far, but I have none of the other issues you’ve listed (partly because I’m a woman married to a man).
I highly doubt you would regret having it done as long as you’re in a clean environment with a surgeon who knows what they are doing
Sorry I had to do it, I had no choice!
It’s a bop though.
Positively delightful! Thank you for sharing!
It’s not the same thing, but it looks like you haven’t got a match yet. I’m in my 40’s and just had jaw surgery about 6 months ago. Everyone I could find seemed wildly glad they’d done it. I’m relatively early in recovery and still somewhat annoyed with the process. However, my teeth line up how they should now so that’s pretty sweet. (That was the reason for it.) Also my face isn’t crooked any more and my tongue has more room and apparently I don’t snore any more.
It sounds like the tongue tie surgery is much less invasive and stuff in your mouth heals pretty quick. (All I’m waiting for at this point is nerves and bone.) I ultimately decided to go ahead with it even though I feel like I’m pretty old, because I figure I should live at least another 40 years, and 40 years is a long, long time. May as well make it a little better if possible.
I noticed I’m in the same situation (tongue tied), and the only downside I noticed is when speaking Spanish I can’t really say the R as in the word “Rico” correctly. I do it in a very simple way but can’t hold it like most speakers can. And I though about having it corrected, but to me a surgery would be too big a risk for a small benefit.
Thanks for sharing this story. I believe it’s going to be difficult to find a lot of people in a similar predicament as you since tied tongues are not extremely common, and when they happen they are usually dealt with during infancy. What’s really unusual about your story is that no other doctor or dentist picked this up over four decades …
I’m also on second opinion camp but I can’t speak from personal experience, sorry. I’d be really curious to know how it works out for you if you get surgery though.
Good luck!
That’s the part I can’t figure out! I think diagnosing of tongue tie is more common now then it was when I was a baby. In the early 80’s, unless the tongue tie was bad enough to prevent the baby from feeding, they probably just said “Meh, good enough”. But it’s weird that it wasn’t called out in my dozens of other dentist visits over the years! I had no idea I was supposed to be able to reach my back edge my molars!
I’m in the same boat as you OP - a tongue tied adult who’s considered treatment a few times before.
I’m not sure of all the benefits there are to getting it fixed though, other than being able to lick [icecream cones] with competence. I also can’t roll my Rs which made high school Spanish miserable.
I’ve read that recovery is rough the first few days after surgery, and I’m sure we’d have to relearn how to talk to some degree. This tradeoff doesn’t seem worth it to me, so I haven’t gotten it fixed.
Besides, it’s a fun conversation piece if I ever need it.
