Neonatal and Infant Tongue Tie Release: 

Diagnosis & Treatment

May 10-11, 2024

Introducing The Peel Technique®…

A New Paradigm in Pediatric Tongue Tie Treatment

In this combination lecture and hands-on course, attendees will be introduced to the concept of laser frenectomies, an increasingly popular method by which dentists and physicians can treat tongue and lip ties in their patients.

5% or more of the babies born in the United States have such tight tongue-ties and frenum pulls that they cannot successfully latch onto their mother’s nipple and breastfeed. For the baby, serious consequences include loss of weight and the label of “failure to thrive.” For the mother, this results in sore and cracked nipples, mastitis, painful engorgement and post-partum depression due to an inability to nurse her baby. This has classically been treated by a physician taking a scalpel or a pair of scissors to the newborn’s mouth and cutting the attachment. The treatment of choice, however, is for a dentist to use laser technology to painlessly, bloodlessly remove the attachment, allowing the infant to immediately nurse.

Though many practitioners perform tongue-tie release, few are trained in the PEEL Technique®. This technique ensures that the 4 movements the tongue must make in order to nurse successfully can be performed:

Peristalsis

Elevation

Extension

Lateralization

This participation course will teach you how to:

· accumulate all of the required data via history intake forms

· perform a clinical examination to arrive at the correct diagnosis

· evaluate when this procedure should be done

· perform the procedure using laser technology

· network with lactation consultants, pediatricians, neonatologists, and the rest of the medical team

· grow your practice of neonatal dentistry

Hands-On

The HANDS-ON portion of the program will be performed on tissue samples and pig jaws and includes complete instruction on performing lip and tongue tie releases. Each attendee of the course will perform releases on animal jaws.

At the conclusion of the course, participants will:

1. Be able to diagnose anterior and posterior tongue ties
2. Understand the criteria for treating tongue and lip ties
3. Know the advantages of the PEEL Technique ® over other techniques
4. Understand which laser wavelengths are most appropriate for performing tongue and lip tie releases

This course is recommended for:

• General dentists, periodontists, oral surgeons, and pediatric dentists

• Pediatricians, family practitioners, neonatologists, obstetricians, pediatric otolaryngologists, pediatric gastroenterologists, and more

• Nurse practitioners

• Speech and language pathologists, lactation consultants, doulas and birth counselors