The first weeks of a baby’s life are supposed to be filled with quiet moments and the deep satisfaction of feeding well. When they are not, when nursing is painful, when your baby cannot latch, when feeding takes forever and leaves you both exhausted, something is wrong and you deserve answers.
For many families, the answer is a tongue tie or lip tie. And for many of those families, finding someone who can diagnose it accurately, treat it gently, and support your recovery afterward is harder than it should be.
At Lion’s Tooth Pediatric Dentistry and Orthodontics, we have built a program around exactly that need.
A tongue tie, known clinically as ankyloglossia, occurs when the frenulum connecting the tongue to the floor of the mouth is too short, too tight, or attached too far forward, restricting the tongue’s range of motion. A lip tie occurs when the tissue connecting the upper lip to the gum is similarly restrictive.
These are also called tethered oral tissues, or TOTS, and they are more common than many families realize. A tongue or lip tie does not just affect breastfeeding, it can influence bottle feeding, the introduction of solid foods, speech development, oral posture, airway health, and orthodontic development as a child grows.
The ties are not always plainly visible and cannot be diagnosed by how they look alone. How they look, how they feel to trained hands, combined with the list of symptoms are required to make an accurate diagnosis. The earlier they are identified and addressed, the better the outcomes tend to be.
Tongue tie and lip tie diagnosis and treatment at Lion’s Tooth is led by Dr. Greg Notestine, who has focused his practice on TOTS and is one of the most experienced providers in the region for this work.
Dr. Notestine takes the time to explain exactly what he is seeing, why it matters, and what he recommends before any procedure is discussed. Families consistently describe feeling heard, informed, and cared for from the moment they meet him. He performs frenectomies using advanced laser technology, making the procedure safe, precise, and far more comfortable than most families expect. Recovery is typically quick and the difference in function can be remarkable.
A frenectomy, sometimes called a frenotomy, is a gentle procedure that releases the restrictive tissue using a soft tissue laser. The laser allows for exceptional precision, minimal bleeding, and a more comfortable experience than traditional surgical methods. Most infants tolerate the procedure very well and can feed immediately afterward. The entire visit is calm, unhurried, and designed with your baby’s comfort and your peace of mind at the center.
Here is where our program goes beyond what most tongue tie providers offer, and it is the part that makes a meaningful difference in outcomes.
Hannah Lacy is a registered dental hygienist and certified oral myofunctional therapist who works alongside Dr. Notestine to support families before and after the frenectomy procedure. She provides two services that are uncommon to find in a tongue tie practice and that our families tell us made all the difference.
Hannah provides lactation support for families of nursing infants, helping mothers and babies work through feeding challenges after the procedure. Finding a tongue tie provider who also offers hands-on lactation guidance in the same practice is rare. For families who have already seen multiple providers and are exhausted and discouraged, having this support under one roof changes everything about the experience.
After a frenectomy, the tissue must be kept from reattaching during the healing process. This requires a specific stretching routine performed by caregivers at home in the days and weeks following the procedure. Hannah works directly with families to teach these stretches, ensure they are being performed correctly, and support healing for the best possible functional outcome.
Skipping or performing stretches incorrectly is one of the most common reasons frenectomy outcomes fall short of expectations. Having Hannah walk through this with you in person, answer your questions, and follow your progress is one of the most valuable parts of our program and one of the things that sets us apart from providers who perform the procedure and send families home without this level of support.
For appropriate patients, Hannah also provides pre-procedure oral myofunctional therapy to prepare the tongue and oral muscles for better movement before the release. This preparation can improve the immediate results of the procedure and support a smoother recovery.
We encourage families to reach out for an evaluation if their infant is experiencing any of the following: difficulty latching or maintaining a latch during breastfeeding or bottle feeding, painful nursing for the mother, slow weight gain or difficulty feeding efficiently, excessive gas, clicking sounds during feeding, fatigue during feeds, or reflux-like symptoms that have not responded to other interventions.
Tongue and lip ties are not always the cause of feeding difficulties, but they are frequently overlooked and worth ruling out early. An evaluation is low-pressure and informative regardless of the outcome.
While this page focuses on infant care, tongue ties and lip ties can affect children of all ages and are not always identified in infancy. If your older child has speech concerns, difficulties with eating, orthodontic issues, mouth breathing, noisy breathing, snoring, waking up more than normal during the night, not waking up refreshed or bed-wetting, a TOTS evaluation may be worth discussing. Please see our oral myofunctional therapy page for more information or contact our office directly.
Families throughout the greater Dayton area and beyond come to Lion’s Tooth for tongue tie and lip tie care because of the depth of our program, the expertise of Dr. Notestine, and the wraparound support Hannah provides before and after treatment. If you are searching for infant tongue tie treatment in the Dayton area and want a team that will support your whole family through the process, we would love to hear from you.
