Parent Resources

Our friendly office will help answer any questions and schedule your initial consultation. This consultation appointment will be with both Dr. Amy and our in-house therapy provider, Jill or Kelsey. Our release provider, Dr. Amy, will throughly assess your baby's oral anatomy, discuss treatment options, and answer any questions you have about your baby and the frenectomy process. Our therapist will evaluate your baby’s oral motor, sucking, and whole-body skills, which can all be affected when a baby has oral restrictions. Together we will provide recommendations and a treatment plan to best fit your feeding goals.

Babies with oral restrictions also have some degree of oral dysfunction. We provide a comprehensive functional evaluation to see the full picture. Therapy targets these challenged oral motor and sucking skills. If a frenectomy is indicated, therapy helps to prepare baby and the family for optimal outcomes.

This depends on several factors such as how impaired their sucking skills are, how baby responds to treatment, and family goals. Babies with mild impairments may be ready for release the next week, whereas babies with more challenges would benefit from several sessions to boost their skills prior to release. We have consistently seen that building strength, coordination, and skills before the frenectomy has improved outcomes and healing after the frenectomy. Treatment planning is a team decision and we collaboratively work with families to make a plan that will work for them.

Insurance coverage for frenectomies can vary, we encourage you to reach out to your insurance company to understand your benefits. Because of this, you will pay the fee upfront, and we will courtesy bill out to your dental insurance company on your behalf. Your dental insurance will then reimburse you depending on your individual plan. If your child is not on your dental insurance, we can provide a superbill for you to submit to your medical insurance for reimbursement. If you have any questions about your dental insurance plan or our pricing, don't hesitate to give us a call to speak with one of our friendly, knowledgable team members!

Because we believe in function-first, we typically do not do any same-day releases. Our goal is to give your baby the best chance for success post-frenectomy and to do so, we want to ensure that they have all the functional skills they need in place before their release. If your baby has previously been working with an occupational therapist or speech and language pathologist and is functionally cleared for a release by their provider, we will be able to do a same-day release. If you have not yet worked with a functional provider, we like your baby to have a full evaluation by our in-house Therapist during their consult, work on exercises to develop their oral motor skills for 1-2 weeks (or more), and then we will schedule a release once your baby is ready. With this function-first model, we have seen wonderful success in the babies we take care of.

Dr. Amy uses a topical anesthetic with a lidocaine/prilocaine mixture. We do not use benzocaine for our babies. Due to the quick nature of the procedure, we do not need to put your baby to sleep.

The entire process lasts around 15 minutes. The majority of that time is prep-work. The release itself takes approximately 30 seconds per site. We put your baby in a cozy swaddle, lay a neck towel behind their head for their comfort, put baby safety goggles on, take pre-op photos, place topical anesthetic, and then do the release. We will be talking to your little one throughout the entire process and soothing him/her. If we think your baby needs a break between sites, we will pick him/her up and bounce and soothe before starting the next site. Our priority is to be as gentle and loving as possible with your precious little one, while working efficiently to do a complete release. As soon as we finish, we place cold baby water on sterile gauze and wipe down the release sites, to provide a cooling sensation that feels good for your baby. We take some post-op photos and then then he/she will be back in your arms and ready to snuggle!

Many babies fall asleep quickly after the procedure—this is the body’s way to recover. Expect your baby to take longer naps the first two days. Additionally, expect 1-2 fussier days with your little one. We recommend a form of pain control, such as Tylenol or a homeopathic remedy like Arnica, for the first two days to make your baby comfortable. Some babies do not want to eat much right away. If this happens with your baby, we recommend a warm bath and skin to skin to help your baby re-set, then continue to offer the bottle/breast. Babies also may drool and gag more, as they adjust to eating with their newly released tongue. For more details, please read our post-op instructions document.

We do not allow parents back in the room with us during the procedure. Babies will feel our energy and we want you to remain calm and relaxed so that you can comfort your little one immediately after the release. The total amount of time you can expect to be separated from your baby is 10-15 minutes. We have found this to be the best for both parents and baby. Many parents choose to wait in the car and we will come let you know as soon as we have finished the release!

Yes! Many babies find comfort in nursing or bottle feeding with mom or dad. Additionally, many babies are also very sleepy after the procedure and prefer to just be cuddled and comforted.

If your baby doesn’t want to eat the afternoon and evening of their procedure after they get home, do not panic. This is not an uncommon response—they have had a big day! Continue to offer them the breast/bottle. We recommend taking a warm bath and skin-to-skin to help them calm down. Additionally, ensure that they are getting proper pain control through a homeopathic remedy or tylenol, to eliminate pain as a factor preventing them from feeding. You will have a phone number to contact us 24/7 with any questions or concerns. If your baby continues to have challenges the following day, you are encouraged to contact us to problem solve feeding challenges.

The first two days following the release will be the most uncomfortable for your baby. Within the first day after the release, a white scab will form on the healing sites. Once this white scab is formed, the release site will no longer feel painful but will feel more irritating, very similar to when a scab forms on our skin. We recommend pain control through the first two days after the release and then as needed, based on your baby’s temperament.

Yes! We actually encourage pacifier use to continue to develop oral motor skills. Our therapist can provide recommendations on different pacifiers for your baby.

There are no documented risks of infection following a release and the risk is low. We do recommend doing the stretches with gloves or washed hands, however, just to keep things clean for your little one. Additionally, gloves help with getting more traction in their tiny mouths.

Watch Dr. Amy’s Videos on our Parent Portal with techniques on how to do the stretches. Do stretches every 4-6 hours, 5x/day, for 4 weeks. The 4th week, you taper down 5x/day, 4x/day, and so on. We recommend a diaper change, stretch, then feed. Pull the diamond thin and tall to eliminate any “creasing” in the corners. If you have a headlamp, use one! It will help you visualize the wound. Using gloves also helps you get a better hold to do the stretches.

If you find that the sites bleed when you do your stretches, that means that they were re-attaching and you re-opened the wound and prevented re-attachment. It will hurt your heart as a parent to see it, but know that it means that you did a good stretch and are setting the sites up for ultimate success with healing! Continue to keep stretching just like you have been and if your baby seems uncomfortable after re-opening the wound, give them another dose of pain relief.