Comparative study on the effectiveness of myofunctional therapy of the tongue after frenectomy in ankyloglossia

Abstract

Background: This study's objective of was investigate the effectiveness of myotherapy on tongue mobility and tongue function after surgical correction in ankyloglossia. Method: This study was carried out in 15 subjects assigned to the control group (n=5). The other 10 individuals with ankyloglossia were randomly received frenectomy alone (F; n=5) and frenectomy performed with tongue myofunctional therapy (FM; n=5). Tongue myofunctional therapy was performed 1 day after surgery, and 3 times a day for 3 months. Age, gender, height, weight, IBM, Kotlow's free tongue movement, maximal interincisal mouth opening (MIO), interincisal mouth opening with tongue tip to maxillary incisive papillae (MOTTIP), tongue range of motion ratio (TRMR), tongue range of motion deficit (TRMD), tongue mobility, maximum tongue elevation pressure, and maximum bite force were evaluated. Results: Frenectomy demonstrated improvement of tongue mobility and function. FM group showed significant improvement of tongue parameters faster than the F group in TRMR, TRMD, tongue mobility, and MBF. Moreover, MTEP of the FM group significantly increased at the 1st-week follow-up (p<0.05) and higher than the control group at the 3rdmonth follow-up. Conclusion: The results of this study indicated that lingual frenectomy performed with tongue myofunctional therapy could accelerate and maintaining the treatment results concerning free tongue movement, TRMR, TRMD, tongue mobility, maximum tongue elevation pressure, and maximum bite force