What to Know About Sleep Apnea

The position of the tongue also plays an important role, as revealed in a recent paediatric study, having an abnormally short lingual frenulum may cause less orofacial growth in early childhood, reducing the width of the larynx upper respiratory tract. The upper airway is very flexible, so this increases the risk of collapsing during sleep. They found that children in whom the short frenulum was not treated early developed an abnormal tongue function, which also impacted the growth of their mouths.

Researchers suggest that pediatricians and otolaryngologists should systematically examine the lingual frenulum of children who exhibit problems such as difficulty in sucking, speech impediments, snoring, or other breathing problems. They also state that while a frenectomy (frenulum removal) is useful, it is often not enough to resolve all abnormal breathing patterns and recommend incorporating an oral myofunctional therapy after surgery to restore normal nasal breathing.