Lip & Tongue Tie Treatment for Children & Adults Boulder
What Patients Over 5 Years Old Can Expect at Their First Visit
If you’re an adult or your child is over five years old, we’ve included some helpful information below on what to expect during the first visit for lip or tongue-tie treatment here in Boulder. This works a little differently than an infant or young child’s procedure due to the muscle that has formed under the tongue. If you have any questions or would like to work with any specialists in our vast network of referrals, please call our office.
Why Choose Dr. Witkoff for Lip & Tongue-Tie Treatment?
Dr. Jesse Witkoff boasts over a decade of experience in treating tethered oral tissues. Today, he’s on the forefront of tongue and lip tie release and has taken hundreds of hours of continuing education courses on this treatment. He also lectures across the nation and provides training and education to other providers for this treatment. Because he has dedicated the entire practice to the treatment of tongue and lip ties, every patient can rest assured knowing that they’ll receive thorough explanations and the latest treatment options to help them regain complete function of their smile.
The Initial Examination & Treatment
Unlike ties in babies, child and adult tongue ties require myofunctional therapy before a release can be performed. This is sort of like physical therapy for the tongue because the tongue muscle/fascia in adults is so thick and tight, it needs to be loosened in order for Dr. Jesse to get a complete release. Since myofunctional therapy will eventually be needed, we can offer our services in one of two ways:
Option 1: If you feel confident that your child (or you) has a tongue tie, we can give you the name and phone number of a myofunctional therapist near you (or one that can provide their services via Skype or Zoom) to seek their services before coming to us. They will work with you on stretching the tongue muscle ahead of time so once you come to see us, it would require only one visit to do both the exam and procedure on the same day.
This is a great option for people coming from far away or who do not want to come in to us more than once due to time constraints. The appointment with us in this case would take approximately 1.5 hours.
We ask that you see a myofunctional therapist for at least one visit, find out the timeline that they would like to work with you on your specific case, acquire a suggested surgery date from them, and then call us back with the projected date so that we can align our treatment plans.
Option 2: We can schedule you for a consultation initially if you are not sure you have tethered oral tissue (a tongue tie). This appointment will take approximately one hour. During this appointment, we will explain everything, get a thorough understanding of your case, answer all of your questions, and perform a thorough exam. If diagnosed, Dr. Jesse will then refer you to a myofunctional therapist to work on the stretching of the muscle for a few weeks before coming back in for the surgical release.
Once the myofunctional therapy is completed, your second appointment will be about 50 minutes long to perform the actual frenuloplasty (release procedure). We use a technology called a cold CO2 laser, which is the least invasive and most precise technique for this procedure. It eliminates the need for sutures and a surgical scalpel or scissors, as well as reduces post-operative discomfort and recovery time. Our state-of-the-art technique also allows a measured success rate of between 85 and 90%.
Cost of Lip & Tongue-Tie Treatment
Our exam fee is $150.00, and the procedure fee is $1,800.00. In many cases, to get the full oral function that we’re looking for, we need to do both a tongue and lip tie release. However, these are both included in the fees listed, so you won’t have to worry about any surprise bills. Payment is due at the time of service.
To help you receive the most out of your dental insurance benefits, we’re happy to help you file claims. Our team can print out and send you your dental and/or medical insurance claim forms that contain the procedure codes on them. We can show you how to fill out the information at the top of the form, making it ready to mail in so you can get your reimbursement following your procedure. We typically find that 85 to 90% of our patients using dental insurance are receiving reimbursement. However, with medical insurance, that’s not always the case due to high out-of-network deductibles.
To schedule a consultation or procedure, or to receive a complete list of myofunctional therapists that we work with, you can call us at 720-743-3343. After we confirm your appointment, you’ll receive an automated email with instructions and a link to fill out our new patient forms online. We ask that you please do this no less than 5 days prior to your appointment.