Will baby's development be affected if you don't treat oral connective tissue tightness?

A true or classic tongue-tie may require a simple scissors frenotomy, to assist with breastfeeding. Clinicians have accepted for many years, anecdotally and from clinical observations, that children with untreated classic tongue-tie have difficulty licking ice-creams, using their tongue for oral hygiene, and pronouncing syllables which require the tip of the tongue to contact the bony palate.

The research doesn't show a link between tongue-tie and speech difficulties in later childhood, but this could be because the definitions of ankyloglossia are confused in existing studies, and diagnoses of posterior tongue-tie are included alongside classic tongue-ties, obscuring the effects of a true or classic tongue-tie.

Parents are often told that if they don't deal with what has been diagnosed as oral connective tissue or fascial restrictions, their baby will develop a range of problems in later childhood. You might have heard that your baby could develop

• Poor development of the facial and palatine bones, including malocclusions

• Snoring

• Sleep problems

• Behavioural problems including Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

• Asymmetric neuromotor movement patterns and development

• Feeding difficulties.

There is no evidence to support these claims, and no reason - when we think about underlying mechanisms - to even think these claims might make sense. They are based upon misunderstandings about orofacial development, neuromotor patterns, neurodevelopmental disorders, and childhood sleep.

Your little one deserves the best possible support for his or her development. But you and your family also deserve accurate, evidence-based information to help this happen.

• You can find out how to support the flourishing of your little one's brain here.

• You can find out how to support your baby's motor development here.

• You can find out how to protect baby, toddler, and family sleep by going in to The Possums Sleep Program, here.

Selected references

Kummer AW. Ankyloglossia: misinformation vs. evidence regarding its effects on feeding, speech, and other functions. Journal of Otolaryngology - ENT research. 2024:DOI: 10.15406/joentr.12024.15416.00552.

Thomas J, Bunik M, Holmes A. Identification and management of ankyloglossia and its effect on breastfeeding in infants: clinical report. Pediatrics. 2024;154(2):e2024067605.

Zbikowska M, Tokarczuk O, Durlej G. Relationship between breastfeeding duration and the development of malocclusion and dental caries in children. Scientific Reports. 2025;15:18882.