- Joined
- Jun 4, 2025
- Messages
- 3
Hello, I'm from the greater Toronto Area in Ontario Canada and I'm 25 years old. This is my first time on a forum, I'm not sure if this is going to work but I'm at my wits end, I'm out of options and I need any kind of help or advice. I'm looking for the opinion of a qualified dentist or oral surgeon especially someone with experience with tongue-ties and laser frenotomy procedures.
I've been struggling the last 2 months with some pain but mostly a lot of discomfort and strange feelings in my tongue and mouth that I can't seem to figure out, and its significantly affected my quality life physically and emotionally. Here's my story.
A few months ago, On March 18th, 2025 I booked an appointment to ask my dentist, whom is very experienced and I've had my whole life and trust, about getting a lingual frenectomy done to treat gum recession occurring behind my front teeth on my lower jaw. It's something that was mentioned to me as a potential issue in the past but very rarely. What motivated me to do this was at a previously at a regular cleaning/check-up appointment, I was told by another dentist and hygienist that I should consider getting a frenectomy to reduce the recession that the frenum was causing by pulling back on the gums away from my teeth. At the time of the appointment he asked me what the purpose was for booking this lingual frenectomy surgery, and I said that I was told by another dentist and hygienist at my last appointment that I should consider getting a lingual frenectomy to halt gum recession behind my teeth.
I always knew I was tongue tied right to the tip of my tongue, but I never had any issues and was ok with having it, felt comfortable that it always held my tongue in place and I was used to it so it never bothered me. but always wondered if it would be better to get that surgery done one day and told myself that if I had a reason I'd do it. Even though I never thought of doing the procedure until recently, I was never afraid of the procedure as I was always told that it was a very minor and easy with little to no complications. That made sense to me.
Back to the appointment, he reminded me of how we talked about this before and said lets take a look. He acknowledged that I had gum recession occurring and said that this procedure is to prevent further recession and improve overall gum health. He then said he could do that for me and proceeded with the frenectomy. It was quick and simple, wasn't too concerned. Then he showed me what it looked like in the small overhead mirror, it initially looked strange to me. It looked like I had a triangular hole in the front of my mouth but with the tip of my tongue still attached to a piece of skin. He explained that he simply removed the webbing so that the frenum would heal lower in the mouth and not pull on the gums anymore. Again, that made sense to me. He said to do a salt water rinse, no antibiotics and when I left I was ok. No myofunctional therapy was mentioned before or after the treatment. Although I may have expected my tongue to be more free and mobile it was a passing thought and I didn't think about it. I also found it strange that when I booked the appointment that I was initially told that it would require antibiotics but I was never given any after, but didnt think of it too.
First day or so it was mild discomfort and pain, but didn't seem so bad. After about a week is where things started to go down. After about 5 days my tongue started feeling out of position, and it felt like my tongue was being glued to the floor of my mouth. A week later, I woke up in the morning and yawned, I still don't know what happened but I must have ripped open the wound and I started bleeding profusely. I was over the sink spitting out blood, I've never spit out so much blood before. I immediately made an emergency appointment with my dentist so he could check it. When I went it he stopped the bleeding said it looks like its healing and said I did something to it but it didn't matter. Once the bleeding stopped he gave me extra gauze and I was ok when I left.
In the following weeks, healing process was a struggle. My tongue every week felt like it was free, then glued to the floor of my mouth, back and forth. About 3 weeks in, the surgery site tissue felt very tough and coarse and it hurt to tug on, so I decided to book a follow up appointment to get it checked out just to make sure it was healing properly. After 3 1/2 weeks I went in for a follow up appointment and he said that it looked great and healed the way he wanted it too. I was a little distressed at that as it certainly did not feel that way, but I took his word for it. I was hoping that I would forget about it. But as time went on, every time I spoke, ate, chewed, everything felt off and uncomfortable. I started getting swallowing issues, felt like my tongue sunk into the back of my throat and I had a lump in my throat which caused me to panic a bit and I called the dentist again to say I want him to look at it again and see if there is a way to fix it.
On April 28th, I went in to see him again. He looked concerned at me and I told him the problems I was having, he looked at it again and said I was tugging on the scar but it healed the way he wanted to. He then gave me the option of doing the procedure again to modify the frenum. I initially said that I don't want to do it as I was afraid of healing again, but then said that he'd give me 10min to make a final decision as I filled out a form. During that 10min, I figured that I'm here, he has the tools ready to do it, might as well do it. He then proceeded with the procedure, this time cutting closer to the tongue with the laser. After the procedure, he said the same thing to me, salt water rinse, no antibiotics, and showed me what it looks like in the mirror. The gash was bigger, which I expected, and it felt strange but the release felt good. I left ok. After about a week, the same healing struggles started all over again. I went to a party and was talking a lot, on my way home I realized I was bleeding just like last time, this time I stopped the bleeding with gauze as I learned that before. As time went on, my tongue felt worse and worse, a bit of pain but mostly feeling out of position, talking, eating were all uncomfortable, and this time there was more pain and discomfort. When I looked at my tongue frenum it looked like a jagged mess. 5 weeks later of healing hell, I decided to book a final appointment with my dentist just to be honest with him as to what the heck was going on as it still looked like a thick white patch. That appointment was yesterday, and he told me that it healed nicely, didn't comment on much and said that there is scar tissue so I could try to massage it to break it down which I thought was a good idea. Then he said do you really want to do the procedure a third time and I of course immediately refused. He then said I'd unfortunately just have to get used to it.
This where I am today. Currently my tongue feels completely abnormal, out of position and I'm worried about the posture of my tongue. I worried that my entire mouth was adjusted to a tied tongue and now that I've released if thrown off the structure of my entire mouth. Eating, talking, and even sleeping has been hampered ever since. Its caused me anxiety and depression so I'm not sure if all of symptoms are related to my tongue. But if there is anyone that can give me some insight and some advice that would mean so much to me.
I'm left with deep regret for doing this in the first place as I felt fine before and didn't even really notice the gum recession until it was pointed out to me. I almost would rather the gum recession at this point. I just want to know where I go from here and if there is anything I can do.
If any qualified dentist or oral surgeon can give me some answers that would be immensely appreciated. I can provide photos and information upon request,
Thanks in advance for your help, I really appreciate it.
I've been struggling the last 2 months with some pain but mostly a lot of discomfort and strange feelings in my tongue and mouth that I can't seem to figure out, and its significantly affected my quality life physically and emotionally. Here's my story.
A few months ago, On March 18th, 2025 I booked an appointment to ask my dentist, whom is very experienced and I've had my whole life and trust, about getting a lingual frenectomy done to treat gum recession occurring behind my front teeth on my lower jaw. It's something that was mentioned to me as a potential issue in the past but very rarely. What motivated me to do this was at a previously at a regular cleaning/check-up appointment, I was told by another dentist and hygienist that I should consider getting a frenectomy to reduce the recession that the frenum was causing by pulling back on the gums away from my teeth. At the time of the appointment he asked me what the purpose was for booking this lingual frenectomy surgery, and I said that I was told by another dentist and hygienist at my last appointment that I should consider getting a lingual frenectomy to halt gum recession behind my teeth.
I always knew I was tongue tied right to the tip of my tongue, but I never had any issues and was ok with having it, felt comfortable that it always held my tongue in place and I was used to it so it never bothered me. but always wondered if it would be better to get that surgery done one day and told myself that if I had a reason I'd do it. Even though I never thought of doing the procedure until recently, I was never afraid of the procedure as I was always told that it was a very minor and easy with little to no complications. That made sense to me.
Back to the appointment, he reminded me of how we talked about this before and said lets take a look. He acknowledged that I had gum recession occurring and said that this procedure is to prevent further recession and improve overall gum health. He then said he could do that for me and proceeded with the frenectomy. It was quick and simple, wasn't too concerned. Then he showed me what it looked like in the small overhead mirror, it initially looked strange to me. It looked like I had a triangular hole in the front of my mouth but with the tip of my tongue still attached to a piece of skin. He explained that he simply removed the webbing so that the frenum would heal lower in the mouth and not pull on the gums anymore. Again, that made sense to me. He said to do a salt water rinse, no antibiotics and when I left I was ok. No myofunctional therapy was mentioned before or after the treatment. Although I may have expected my tongue to be more free and mobile it was a passing thought and I didn't think about it. I also found it strange that when I booked the appointment that I was initially told that it would require antibiotics but I was never given any after, but didnt think of it too.
First day or so it was mild discomfort and pain, but didn't seem so bad. After about a week is where things started to go down. After about 5 days my tongue started feeling out of position, and it felt like my tongue was being glued to the floor of my mouth. A week later, I woke up in the morning and yawned, I still don't know what happened but I must have ripped open the wound and I started bleeding profusely. I was over the sink spitting out blood, I've never spit out so much blood before. I immediately made an emergency appointment with my dentist so he could check it. When I went it he stopped the bleeding said it looks like its healing and said I did something to it but it didn't matter. Once the bleeding stopped he gave me extra gauze and I was ok when I left.
In the following weeks, healing process was a struggle. My tongue every week felt like it was free, then glued to the floor of my mouth, back and forth. About 3 weeks in, the surgery site tissue felt very tough and coarse and it hurt to tug on, so I decided to book a follow up appointment to get it checked out just to make sure it was healing properly. After 3 1/2 weeks I went in for a follow up appointment and he said that it looked great and healed the way he wanted it too. I was a little distressed at that as it certainly did not feel that way, but I took his word for it. I was hoping that I would forget about it. But as time went on, every time I spoke, ate, chewed, everything felt off and uncomfortable. I started getting swallowing issues, felt like my tongue sunk into the back of my throat and I had a lump in my throat which caused me to panic a bit and I called the dentist again to say I want him to look at it again and see if there is a way to fix it.
On April 28th, I went in to see him again. He looked concerned at me and I told him the problems I was having, he looked at it again and said I was tugging on the scar but it healed the way he wanted to. He then gave me the option of doing the procedure again to modify the frenum. I initially said that I don't want to do it as I was afraid of healing again, but then said that he'd give me 10min to make a final decision as I filled out a form. During that 10min, I figured that I'm here, he has the tools ready to do it, might as well do it. He then proceeded with the procedure, this time cutting closer to the tongue with the laser. After the procedure, he said the same thing to me, salt water rinse, no antibiotics, and showed me what it looks like in the mirror. The gash was bigger, which I expected, and it felt strange but the release felt good. I left ok. After about a week, the same healing struggles started all over again. I went to a party and was talking a lot, on my way home I realized I was bleeding just like last time, this time I stopped the bleeding with gauze as I learned that before. As time went on, my tongue felt worse and worse, a bit of pain but mostly feeling out of position, talking, eating were all uncomfortable, and this time there was more pain and discomfort. When I looked at my tongue frenum it looked like a jagged mess. 5 weeks later of healing hell, I decided to book a final appointment with my dentist just to be honest with him as to what the heck was going on as it still looked like a thick white patch. That appointment was yesterday, and he told me that it healed nicely, didn't comment on much and said that there is scar tissue so I could try to massage it to break it down which I thought was a good idea. Then he said do you really want to do the procedure a third time and I of course immediately refused. He then said I'd unfortunately just have to get used to it.
This where I am today. Currently my tongue feels completely abnormal, out of position and I'm worried about the posture of my tongue. I worried that my entire mouth was adjusted to a tied tongue and now that I've released if thrown off the structure of my entire mouth. Eating, talking, and even sleeping has been hampered ever since. Its caused me anxiety and depression so I'm not sure if all of symptoms are related to my tongue. But if there is anyone that can give me some insight and some advice that would mean so much to me.
I'm left with deep regret for doing this in the first place as I felt fine before and didn't even really notice the gum recession until it was pointed out to me. I almost would rather the gum recession at this point. I just want to know where I go from here and if there is anything I can do.
If any qualified dentist or oral surgeon can give me some answers that would be immensely appreciated. I can provide photos and information upon request,
Thanks in advance for your help, I really appreciate it.
Last edited: