Have you recently learned that your child needs a frenectomy to treat their lip or tongue tie? It can be scary to find out that your precious little one has to undergo surgery. But there is good news! A frenectomy is a relatively minor procedure that comes with a short and easy healing process. Just how long will it take for your child to recover, and how can you help them heal properly? This blog post provides some useful information.
Recovery Timeline
If your child is an infant, they should be able to breastfeed immediately after their procedure. Even though they might be a little extra fussy for a few days, they should heal quite quickly. In fact, it usually takes just a few weeks for complete recovery.
What if your child is a bit older? Again, total recovery may take just a few weeks. In the meantime, you may need to limit their food choices so they do not eat anything hard, crunchy, or extremely hot. Such items might irritate their surgical site.
Help Your Child to Heal
Here are some additional tips to help your child have an easy recovery process:
- Provide lots of love and affection. Physical contact with another human can act as a natural painkiller for infants and young children, so you might need to arrange your schedule to accommodate lots of snuggle time.
- Give proper doses of pain medication. It may be safe to give your child small doses of pain medication. You can ask their pediatric dentist for guidance on which medicine to use.
- Use cool temperatures to manage swelling. Giving your child a sugar-free popsicle or another cold treat can reduce swelling during the first 24 hours after their appointment.
- Monitor the surgical site. Post-treatment infections after a frenectomy are rare, but you should still keep an eye on your child’s surgical site and look for any signs of problems.
- Stay on top of oral hygiene. Help your child to maintain a clean mouth to reduce the risk of infections and other problems.
Prevent Reattachment
Your child’s mouth might try to heal back to the way it was before their frenectomy — you do not want that to happen! Ask their dentist to show you some exercises and stretches that you can do to prevent your child’s body from undoing the results of their surgery.
For example, if you have an infant, you might need to run a clean finger under their tongue or behind their lips, as well as carefully lift their tongue. Older children can perform exercises on their own, but they tend to need adult supervision and lots of reminders to comply with post-treatment instructions.
In the vast majority of cases, it does not take long at all to bounce back from a frenectomy! Ask your child’s dentist if you have questions about the recovery process.
Meet the Practice
Dr. Meghan Thorburn is an experienced pediatric dentist who proudly offers frenectomies to treat lip and tongue ties for Fort Worth children. She uses a soft tissue laser to make the procedure as comfortable as possible. To learn more about how she may be able to serve your family, contact Trinity Pediatric Dentistry at 682-327-1133.