In the article, we will consider how plastic surgery of the frenulum of the upper lip is performed in a child. The ability of the baby to speak clearly, smile and many other functions depend on it. Plastic surgery for the correction of the frenulum was carried out in the 50s of the last century. Today, the possibilities of medicine have become much wider, and such manipulation can be carried out in several ways.
In what cases is plastic surgery of the frenulum of the upper lip in a child prescribed?
Indications for surgery
Normally, this area of soft tissues, which is located under the upper lip, is fixed at a distance of 0.5 cm or 0.8 cm from the necks of the upper teeth. With a physiological location in a child and the correct size, problems with articulation, speech, difficulties in eating, aesthetic defects in this area of the face, as a rule, do not occur. If they are still noticed, determinethe reason for this (in the wrong frenulum under the upper lip) is very easy when examined by a specialist.
Plasty of the frenulum of the upper lip in a child is performed when, as a result of its improper development, he has the following pathological phenomena:
- A diastema, which is a pronounced, unattractive looking gap between teeth. The problem here is not just aesthetics. When fixed in the interdental papillae, the frenulum prevents the correct position of the teeth, begins to injure them, as a result of which periodontitis develops. The front incisors gradually diverge in different directions, while leaning forward towards the lips.
- Pathology of the periodontium or an increased likelihood of their occurrence. This is possible with a too short bridle, which lifts the gum up, exposing the roots and necks of the teeth. Food remains are constantly stuffed into the bare space, and they will later begin to decompose and rot.
- Obstacle in the installation of prostheses in adults. If it is too short, the prosthesis is very difficult to secure.
- Obstacles in correcting malocclusion. The incorrect location of the frenulum has a direct impact on its formation, since it creates an increased load on the entire dentition. In order for the installation of the plate or braces to give a positive result, it is recommended to tidy up this area of oral tissues.
- Violation of the pronunciation of some sounds, most often the vowels "o" and "u". This is the mosta rare reason forcing surgical intervention.
- Violation of sucking functions in infants. For the correctness of this physiological process, the normal state of all parts of the oral cavity is important. If a child, as a result of the presence of this problem, does not have the opportunity to be saturated, he becomes whiny, gaining weight poorly. In this situation, surgery is performed at an early age.
Optimal time for plastic surgery
It is never too late to carry out plastic surgery of the frenulum of the upper lip in a child. However, it is best to carry it out without waiting for serious problems to arise, including not only pathologies of the teeth and gums, problems with articulation, but also diseases of the digestive system. Frenuloplasty in children is done from about 5.5 years of age, if at an earlier age there are no difficulties with breastfeeding. During this period, milk teeth are replaced by permanent ones. And while the molars have not completely cut through, with the help of correction it is possible to prevent the incisors from spreading to the sides, forming a diastema. Pathology will be prevented, which will be facilitated by the growing second incisors in the upper jaw.
Do I have to wait until a certain age?
Some doctors prefer to delay surgery until the age of seven or eight. By this time, the anterior incisors have already appeared, and the bite can be more clearly seen. And that means plastic.surgery will be much more accurate.
Plasty of the frenulum of the upper lip in children with a laser is now being performed more and more often. More on that below.
Contraindications for surgery
Surgical intervention in the presence of such a problem is not carried out by every child. There are some contraindications for this type of plastic surgery, which include:
- oral pathologies;
- diseases of bone tissue;
- complicated caries;
- previously performed radiation effect on the area of the neck and head;
- serious diseases of the nervous system;
- blood pathologies;
- exacerbated infectious diseases that do not affect exclusively the oral cavity;
- mental illness;
- serious metabolic disorders with a tendency to collagenosis;
- oncological diseases.
Photo of upper lip frenuloplasty (before and after) is presented below.
Steps of preparation for this procedure
Let's figure out how the preparation for surgery is going on.
The plastic surgery on the bridle is a fairly simple intervention. However, given the list of contraindications, the child must be carefully examined: take general urine and blood tests, conduct a coagulogram, and fluorography. The oral cavity must necessarily be sanitized, caries and other problems cured. Just before the surgical procedure, the baby must be fed, because for some time afteroperations, eating will be prohibited. After that, you need to brush your teeth and rinse your mouth with a special antiseptic solution.
Varieties of operations
Which method will be used to correct this area of soft tissues? It all depends on the type of developmental disorders and the structure of the frenulum. In this case, there are several options for a quick solution to the problem:
- Laser plasty of the frenulum of the upper lip. This method is the most modern. With its help, the time of the operation and further rehabilitation is reduced. There is no need for stitches, no need to worry that the child will lose a lot of blood. The probability of experiencing severe pain, getting an infection and a postoperative scar with laser plastic surgery is also reduced to zero. This is especially important if the correction is carried out in childhood. Plastic surgery of the upper lip frenulum with a laser is performed using local anesthesia with a special gel. The laser beam is directed to the problem area. Under its influence, excess tissue evaporates, sterilization and sealing of damaged blood vessels occur.
- A proven old way to correct the position of the frenulum, carried out with the help of surgical instruments. Such an intervention is carried out under local infiltration anesthesia, anesthesia. There are two ways to carry out such an operation. The first is Y-shaped frenuloplasty, which involves the formation of an incision on the frenulum of the required shape. The second is the Limberg operation, withwhich the incisions on the tissue have the shape of the letter Z. Both surgical interventions are done in order to move the abnormal frenulum to the correct place. Manipulations are carried out immediately after an anesthetic injection, and in order to suture, catgut is used - a self-absorbable material.
- Frenotomy, which is performed with a narrowed frenulum. The area of the mucous membrane is dissected across, as a result of which it becomes longer. The seam is applied along the cut edge.
- Frenectomy (removal of the frenulum) is performed if the frenulum is too wide. In this situation, a large amount of plaque accumulates on the teeth, and diseases that are threatening can develop. During this intervention, an incision is made along the edge of the mucosa, the interdental papilla and some of the tissues located near the roots of the central incisors are removed.
Photo of upper lip frenulum plasty in children presented.
Care after plastic surgery
After surgery, the child may feel some pain in the area affected by the laser or instruments. After laser surgery, such symptoms are less pronounced. To allow injured tissue to heal quickly and prevent infection, you must:
- Do not feed the baby for two or three hours, and for the next two days, the food should not be hot and hard, otherwise damaged tissues can be injured.
- Take care of your oral hygiene. Use a soft brush for cleaning.
- Rinse your mouth thoroughly, preferably with antiseptic solutions.
- One of the first days after the operation, come for a check-up with a specialist.
- A week later, special gymnastics begin to be carried out, helping to strengthen the facial and masticatory muscles.
Patients often look for photos of upper lip frenuloplasty that show the result. Photos before and after the operation are given in the article.
Surgery results
If before plastic surgery the child had speech disorders, abnormal growth and formation of teeth, then after such a correction, such problems usually disappear. This happens gradually, as the baby needs to get used to such changes and learn how to pronounce new sounds.
Many parents claim that their child speaks much better after upper lip frenuloplasty.
Some time after the plastic surgery, the child may feel some discomfort due to the changed movements of the lips and tongue. However, this stage of adaptation lasts, as a rule, no longer than 5 days. During this time, all damage to the mucous membrane has time to heal, the previous violations of diction disappear. A little more time may be needed to eliminate the diastema. At the same time, the process of normalization of the growth of incisors can last up to several months.
Side effects
Does it hurt a child with plastic surgery of the frenulum of the upper lip? Not if anesthetics have been used. If you correctly monitor the implementation of postoperative procedures, then the developmentside effects are usually not observed. There may be slight pain, slight swelling.
In case of improper care of the oral cavity, inflammatory phenomena may occur that affect the processes of scar formation: sometimes this manipulation is required.
Complications
Complications most often occur in children with an unformed jaw and milk teeth. After plastic surgery, when teeth are replaced with molars, they can be bent, the jaw acquires signs of underdevelopment. When correcting a frenulum, children with malocclusion may have difficulty pronunciation.
Don't delay
Parents need to know that not every diagnosis requires surgery. But if a specialist speaks of obvious medical indications for this, you should not shelve plastic surgery or completely abandon it. The consequences may be worse than minor pain and fear of surgery.
Reviews
Plasty of the frenulum of the upper lip in children is a very common surgical intervention today. Parents whose children underwent it note that in most cases the correction is successful and does not cause any serious complications.
The most popular method is laser plastic surgery of the frenulum of the upper lip. According to reviews, small patients feel good after such an operation, the intervention does not cause large blood losses and is absolutely painless. Parents say that after the correction of the frenulum with a laser, the mucous membrane heals significantlyfaster than normal surgery.
In the postoperative period, most children did not have any serious violations. They, according to reviews of the plastic frenulum of the upper lip, experienced minor pain, which disappeared on the second day.
