A Study of Tongue Length in Tongue-Tie: Is the Tongue Short in Children With Tongue-Tie?

Abstract

Purpose: Children with tongue-tie often come to the clinic with the chief complaint of “short tongue”. To explore the possibility of hypoplasia of the tongue in tongue-tie patients, the tongue length was measured at the 1-month postoperative follow-up.

Methods: One hundred thirty-eight infants who underwent a lingual frenotomy from May 2023 to June 2024 were included in this study. Tongue length was measured by inserting a wooden tongue blade into the back of the tongue to the base, marking the tip of the tongue, and measuring the length with a caliper. The severity of tongue-tie was evaluated using the four objective items in the tongue-tie assessment score.

Results: The mean tongue lengths by type were 11.6 ± 2.0 mm for the tongue tip type (n = 23), 13.1 ± 2.6 mm for the anterior membrane type (n = 68), 13.3 ± 2.1 mm for the tower type (n = 29), and 13.7 ± 3.5 mm for the posterior type (n = 18). The tongue length for the tongue tip type was significantly smaller than those for the other types (p < 0.01). Tongue lengths by the score were 10.8 ± 1.4 mm for score 0 (n = 16), 13.3 ± 2.4 mm for score 1 (n = 12), 12.9 ± 2.6 mm for score 2 (n = 64), 13.3 ± 2.2 mm for score 3 (n = 30), 13.6 ± 2.8 mm for score 4 (n = 10), 15.2 ± 2.0 mm for score 5 (n = 4), 16 mm for score 6 (n = 1), and 21 mm for score 7 (n = 1). The tongue length for score 0 was significantly smaller than those for scores 1–4 (p < 0.01).

Conclusions: In the most severe type of tongue-tie, tongue development is considered inhibited. Frenotomy should be performed at an early stage.