Other
Sandy Thao T. Gaskill, DMD (she/her/hers)
Resident
University of Mississippi Medical Center
Madison, Mississippi, United States
Jennifer L. Bain, DMD, MSPH, PhD
University of Mississippi Medical Center
Jason Griggs, PhD, FADM
University of Mississippi
Blakeley F. Ward, RN, MSN, CRNA
University of Mississippi Medical Center
Sara Jane McCrary, DMD
University of Mississippi
Jackson, Mississippi, United States
Purpose: Tethered oral tissues (ToT), such as tongue and lip ties, are frequent causes of feeding, speech, and oral hygiene difficulties. The investigators noted clinically an increase in ToT in patients with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) or attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) presenting for frenectomies to the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC) School of Dentistry. The aim of this study was to determine if there is an increase in the prevalence of tethered oral tissues in children with developmental disorders such as ASD and behavioral disorders such ADHD in the general population at the UMMC.
Methods: IRB #UMMC-IRB-2022-172 approved. Data was obtained through an Epic honest broker who gave de-identified data to investigators. Data requested was age, sex, race, ethnicity, and diagnosis codes F84, F90, Q38.0, Q38.1. The investigators received data sets with various combinations that were given to a statistician who performed the logistic regression modeling.
Results: Ankyloglossia was more significantly diagnosed by clinicians in comparison to lip ties. Of the 1,629 diagnosed with tethered oral tissues, 40 have a diagnosis of ASD while 9 have ADHD. The study also showed a male predominance of 63%. In addition, 53% were white/Caucasian.
Conclusions: The findings pointed out that tethered oral tissues are often unnoticed by clinicians and thus undiagnosed. Clear assessment and attention to the lip and tongue is necessary to treat the condition. This was an educational study to make clinicians aware of and diagnose tethered oral tissues.