Sunday, December 8, 2013

Ignorance would've been bliss.....

Introducing Charity's maxillary frenulum.
There's no way I would've noticed this at all if it weren't for my work with LLL, helping mother-babies overcome their breastfeeding challenges. One of them being tight tongue and lip frenulums/frenum. This causes problems for breastfeeding because baby has a tough time latching well and removing milk effectively. So mom's supply dips. The magic solution? Head to one of 2 pediatric dentists in Utah that specialize in laser revision. ZAP! 2 minutes, and that bothersome piece of tissue is divided. A few months of post-op daily stretching, and baby is forever free of restriction. Sounds so easy, right?
Except when it's MY baby with the problem, and *I'm* the one that has to deal with going through the revision procedure. I DON'T WANNA DO IT!! WAAAAHHHHHH! It just sounds like torture for all of us! But will it be worth it in the long run? Probably. If I don't do it, her risk goes up significantly for having a gap between the two front teeth, poor lip mobility affecting smiling and speech, and increased dental decay on the upper front teeth.  Big sister Brianna has an even thicker, tighter labial frenulum... thus the gap between her front 2 teeth.  I should probably go get hers zapped too.
BUT - butbutbut... we're not really experiencing breastfeeding problems (other than her occasionally "slipping off" and making some clicking noises), because I simply offer to nurse her every time she blinks.   Could we have supply probs in the future? Maybe.  
I'm a believer in the maxim, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it!" But maybe that's the laziness in me speaking.
UUUUUGGGHHHH.... I don't know what to do. To zap or not to zap....

3 comments:

Chelsea and Cody said...

I'm sorry! THat is no no no fun at all. Dental hubby would say, do it! But I'm with you. If it's not broke don't fix it.

Unknown said...

My daughter had that. We didn't have problems nursing. But we had it snipped when she was 8 because of a little gap. I think you are fine to wait, but if you do decide to go ahead it heals very quickly.

Unknown said...

This is really good to know, expecting my first it's good to hear what other moms are dealing with in terms of feeding.