The North Carolina Tongue Tie Center

Dr. Ray’s latest publication (medical Gorum Australia August 2024) which outlines the process by which we evaluate tongue ties. While the audience is meant to be Australian parents, this article does a good job of outlining the philosophy from the NC Tongue Tie Center- focused on thorough assessment and evidence based treatment, so we get our kiddos everything they need, and nothing they don’t.

Dr. Raymond Tseng is thrilled to have been invited to speak on the National stage about our research and practice that we engage in at the NC Integrative Tongue Tie Center! This meeting of tongue tie professionals from around the country will feature Dr. Ray as he speaks about the amazing, evidence-based work we do to help infants and children affected by tongue and lip ties.

The IAOM Convention Committee is excited to present three individual carefully curated lunch n’ learns for your learning experience throughout the IAOM Annual Convention in Raleigh, North Carolina.

This is a FREE member benefit (no cost for current and Active members); however, we ask that those wishing to attend to register through a separate registration form (will be emailed once you register for the convention). This helps our committee to have a complete count of attendees for food and beverage to be provided.

If you are not a member of the IAOM, we welcome you to join us! There is a non-member lunch fee ($99/day), or you can join as an Active Member ($200 with promo code) to save money. It is more cost effective to join than pay individually per lunch.

To register as a new member, please visit our website at: https://iaom.memberclicks.net/new-iaom-membership-form

Lunch n' Learns Presented By:
- Friday September 27th: Samantha Weaver with AOMT
- Saturday September 28th: Dr. Ray Tseng with North Carolina Tongue Tie Center
- Sunday September 29th: Renata Nehme with Airway Circle

Haven't registered? There is still time, visit our website at:
https://iaom.memberclicks.net/convention24

We look forward to these events and having you experience our annual convention!

The NC Tongue Tie Center is proud to have our paper finally available online!

Beyond surgery: Pre‐ and post‐operative care in children with ankyloglossia Background Surgical intervention for tongue-tie, or ankyloglossia performed by paediatric dentists can alleviate symptoms and improve functional abilities in infants and children. Despite widespread...

Dr. Ray and Jessica Altemara IBCLC were presenting at the American Laser Study Club weekend presenting original research and clinical techniques that were developed right here at the NC Tongue Tie Center. Thank you to all our families who contributed to the findings included in the talk and presented to practitioners all around the world. We may be located our own little corner of Norrh Carolina, but our families, our babies/kids, and our approach to conservative and compassionate care will help babies all around the world eat, speak and sleep better.

our phone systems are having problems forwarding calls! In the meantime, if you are a current patient and have a dental emergency, please contact the on-call pediatric dentist at Smiling Turtle Pediatric Dentistry at 919-200-0463 and follow the voice prompts.

Happy New Year!

For the parents that have visited us over the past several years, we have always talked about our evidence-based approach, and the research we are doing as we ask so many questions at the initial and follow-up visits- this is the fruits of that labor. We are proud to be presenting the findings from all of our patients over the years, and doing it at several conferences in 24, including this invited speakership in Australia! Thanks to all the parents who responded to texts, and continuous questions at all your visits- your responses are helping to improve tongue tie surgeries globally!

We are thrilled to announce the participation of Dr. Raymond J. Tseng, DDS, PhD, Owner, and Pediatric Dentist at High House Pediatric Dentistry/North Carolina Tongue Tie Center (Cary, NC), as a distinguished speaker at the upcoming ASTOT (Australasian Society of Tethered Oral Tissues) Symposium in Gold Coast in March 2024.

Dr. Tseng will be sharing his extensive knowledge and insights in a presentation on Laser Dental Outcomes. Join us for a captivating session where Dr. Tseng, joining in person from the USA, will delve into the transformative impact of laser technology on dental outcomes.

Don't miss this opportunity, secure your spot now at https://astot.org/events/2024symposium/ for a symposium filled with cutting-edge information.
We look forward to welcoming Dr. Raymond J. Tseng to our esteemed line-up of speakers!

NC Tongue Tie Center is now available in Oxford, NC! We are thrilled to be working with Drake & Seymour Dentistry, and Oxford Pediatric Dentistry to bring lip/tongue tie support to the Oxford/Henderson area of North Carolina! Please contact us at [email protected] or call us at 984-884-7983 to schedule at appointment at our Oxford/Henderson area office!

We practice what we teach! Your practitioners at the North Carolina Tongue Tie Center will be speaking at the 2024 ALSC conference presenting research and clinical tips developed at the NC Tongue Tie Center. Thank you for the continued support of our center, a national role model for integrative tongue tie centers!

Merry Christmas and happy holidays! 2022 was a hectic year, but we made it through. Thank you to all of the families that supported us this past year, and we look forward to seeing everyone and welcoming new families in 2023!

Happy Halloween to all of our families that have trusted us to take care of their babies and children. Have a fun and safe night trick or treating!

-Dr. Ray and the NC Tongue Tie Team!

The International Consortium for Ankyloglossia Professionals, the professional organization for tongue-tie release providers is happening this weekend, and you might notice some familiar faces! At the NC Tongue Tie Center, your pediatric dentist and lactation consultant are leading the pack in developing best practices, and putting them to work in our practice! Appointments may be slim this week and next as we are away at the conference, but we’ll be back with the most up-to-date information about tongue ties, ready to continue helping our infants, babies and young friends with lip and tongue ties!

We collaborated with Shondra "Lactnerd" Mattos when she lived in NC. This is a great article that helps to shed some light on the pros, cons, and decision-making process for parents who are deciding about a tongue or lip revision for their kiddos.

Tongue Tie Release: Risks, Complications, & Disadvantages — Mattos Lactation Bleeding & soreness are commonly reported side effects of tongue tie surgery in babies. More severe complications have been reported, but should you worry?

Kids with tongue ties may experience difficulties with eating, gagging, pouching foods, slow and/or picky eating, and acid reflux or gagging. Here's what one parent said about their child who underwent a 5 minute procedure to create a lifetime of change. If you think your child could benefit from a tongue tie release, or you want to learn more about Tongue ties and eating, give us a call at 919-584-TIES or hit "Send Message" below.

Data Download - What are the top 10 breastfeeding symptoms related to Lip/Tongue ties?

Hot off the press is our newest in-house research study based on the responses of families like yourself that have come to us because of breastfeeding difficulties.

What are the results.
We studied pre-consult questionnaires for 167 babies in North Carolina between the ages of 10 days to 18 months, who came to the NC Tongue Tie Center (March-Sept 2020) for a consultation for possible lip/tongue tie. These are the top 10 symptoms that were reported, along with the percentages of babies that were reported to have these symptoms (i.e. 56% or 94 babies had a poor latch). This is consistent with what other studies have found in breastfeeding babies.

What does it mean.
Lip or tongue ties can cause problems with breastfeeding. Keep in mind that correlation doesn’t mean causation. Over half of the babies had a poor latch, but that doesn’t mean a poor latch is only caused by a tongue tie- there could be multiple other causes, such as poor positioning. A thorough assessment by a certified lactation consultant (IBCLC) is needed prior to having a lip or tongue tie revision.

Too Long, Didn’t Read
If you’re having breastfeeding problems, meet with a lactation consultant (IBCLC) first to address symptoms. If symptoms persist, schedule a visit to see if a lip/tongue revision can fix the rest of the problems. You’ll still want to meet with an IBCLC afterwards to fine tune and optimize your babies breastfeeding experience.

If you want to learn more about tongue ties and how a 3 minute procedure can have a lifetime of effect, give us a call at 919-584-TIES.

Well, we’re not shutting down. BUT, due to the ice storm and hazardous conditions, NC Tongue Tie Center will be running on a 1 hour delay- patient care will start at 930am, but we will make changes according to local road conditions to insure the safety of our team members. Please call Krissy at 919-267-4211 if you have questions about your appointment. More updates will be posted on this page. Be safe!

Blog Posts

I’m excited to say that we are starting a NC Tongue Tie Center blog, which will be posted on our webpage as well as our page. It’s an exciting time for us because we’ve reached a critical mass of patients and data that will allow us to start publishing case reports, case series reports, preliminary studies and maybe some full fledged studies, based on the number of children we’ve treated in 2019 and 2020. In practice, we’ve always been clear about what we know (supported by peer-reviewed scientific literature), what we think we know (data from our own patients at the NC Tongue Tie Center), and what we don’t know (generally Facebook and the internet at large). In our blog posts, we will still apply the same standards- think of it as a “before they were stars” page for our studies in development as well as opinion pieces that cover some of our more frequent questions from parents.

For the parents that have trusted us to take care of their infants and children in the past, I offer you a sincere and heartfelt thank you.
These blog posts and findings are based off of your experiences, taken over hours upon hours of follow-up visits, and persistent questioning. Every symptom, feeling, thought, and change for better or worse was heard and interpreted. Your decision to see us for your child’s revision, combined with the experiences of others at our practice, will now have a long lasting impact on the lives of children for years to come. On behalf of those children, and our team, I thank you.

As we update our blog with new posts, it’s important to understand that we (reader and author) BOTH have responsibilities with regards to blog posts and articles. My responsibilities are to be true to the scientific method, to follow the data, and to make sure I don’t overstate or overinterpret what I see. A feature of current published literature is a type of “simple summary/clinical implications” paragraph, which helps to summarize in easy to understand terms. You will find this at the bottom every blog post.

YOUR responsibility is to understand the strengths, weaknesses and conclusions of the study. IF you choose to pass this information on (we are honored if you do so), please present it responsibly - with all it’s strengths and weaknesses. One of the difficulties with currently circulating information about lip and tongue ties is that a lot of the information is unsubstantiated, and passed on by hearsay- like the largest game of telephone ever. Remember how the message changed when you played with a small group of friends? Imagine playing with tens of thousands of people all over the world.

Blogs come and go. I’m hopeful that our science-based approach helps parents who are looking for objective answers to some of their most pressing questions when it comes to lip and tongue ties. Some of the opinions may be unpopular, so we’ll do our best to substantiate those with data. If you have any suggestions for blog post topics, please email those to us at [email protected].

Thank you for your support,
Dr. Ray

Diagnosing lip and tongue ties is not just about looking at pictures- often the most important information is about the types of symptoms that occur when babies are breastfeeding. If you think your child may have a tie, check out the symptom list below and contact us to schedule a consult to learn about our evidence-based approach to tongue and lip tie revisions....a few minutes can lead to a lifetime of relief.

Happy 4th of July to all of our families, at home and abroad! 2020 has been quite a year, but all of us at the NC Tongue Tie Center are hoping everyone has a safe and enjoyable weekend.

What should the floor of the mouth look like? Here are two pictures from different 4yo Caucasian females looking at the floor of their mouth.

On the left, we see a normal mouth with the tongue retracted (because it can freely do so) and a smooth floor of mouth with no obvious functional limitations for speech or eating.

On the right, we see a mouth with the tongue not being retracted, with an obvious tongue tie (anterior and posterior) at rest that is visible without having to retract the tongue. Although it may seem like a minor anatomical feature, it led to gagging/vomiting, symptoms of acid reflux, slow and picky eating, and significant speech pronunciation issues.

If your child has eating or speech difficulties, and you suspect a tongue tie, call our office for a relaxed and informative consult to determine if a 5mon revision procedure could lead to a lifetime of impact. DM is if you have questions!

We are thrilled to be re-opening! Please contact Lindsey Masterson with any questions regarding previously scheduled appointments, insurance pre-authorization status, or to schedule a new appointment. We will be updating this page with information about additional clinic days as they become available. We thank you for your patience as we play catchup!

Happy Friday! Here's a fun video for your whole family to groove to and start moving around! We've been hard at work putting our final upgrades in as we prepare to welcome you back on Monday, May 11th.

Enjoy!

FOX IN SOX | Dr. Seuss Raps over Dr. Dre Beats by Wes Tank

FOX IN SOX | Dr. Seuss Raps over Dr. Dre Beats Help fill my creative sails on Patreon: http://patreon.com/westank Follow on Instragram & Twitter! Wes Tank raps Dr. Seuss' classic children's book...

With some luck, NC's stay at home order will be lifted soon. The NC Tongue Tie Center and High House Pediatric Dentistry are preparing to resume normal operations on MAY 11, 2020.

If you had an appt with us prior to May 11, expect a call from us. in the meantime, I'm sure every parent who's had their kids home can relate to the inevitable mess that comes with legos. Stay tuned!

We are hoping for a re-opening after May 1. Please check back often as the situation changes daily.

The North Carolina Tongue Tie Center updated their address.

The NC Tongue Tie Center is an evidence-based clinical practice - this means we keep up to date on the latest studies, and utilize that knowledge to focus on best practices- those that get the best outcomes.

But did you know that our center is also a research center, focused on moving the field forward by collecting data on all of our patients throughout their process with us? Did you know that your visits with us can help future parents make sure their babies grow up happy, healthy and well?

BREASTFEEDING - one of the most important activities that supports life, good health, and a good mother-baby relationship is breastfeeding. Between 2-10% of babies have lip or tongue ties, and many of these children have difficulty with breastfeeding, a poor latch, pain for the mother, and many other symptoms. Take a look at our case report (an actual patient of ours) that found out how fast you can see results after a CO2 laser frenectomy.

Think your baby may have a tongue tie? Contact us via facebook messenger, email us at [email protected], or give us a call at 919-584-TIES to schedule your visit today.

The NC Tongue Tie Center is closed for regular care until 4/17/20. We are currently only available for emergency frenectomy care (see below for "What is an emergency?")

With Governor Cooper's upcoming stay-at-home order for all of NC, our practice is extending it's closure. We are closely monitoring the progression of this virus in North Carolina, and working towards opening when it is safe to do so.

What is an emergency when it comes to tongue or lip ties?
Most of our guidelines focus on breastfeeding babies. If breastfeeding is problematic to the point that within 30 days you would not be breastfeeding, please call our office at 919-267-4211. For these cases:
1) Call our office to let us know whats going on.
2) Video call with Zoom software and Dr. Ray
3) Come to the office for treatment if deemed necessary.

For follow-up consultations, we will do 1 wk follow ups in our office. 2 and 4 week follow-ups will likely be done via video conferencing. If you feel that there are other situations that would significantly change within 30 days if a laser frenectomy is not performed, please call us to discuss.

For those that do need to come in, there are enhanced screening and physical distancing measures in place. Temperatures will be taken and anyone over 99.5 will not be allowed in. We ask that spouses wait in their vehicles whenever possible. Dr. Ray and Dr. Mark are working to protect your children, as well as our staff members and their children, grandparents, etc.

On a personal note, I know it's hard. We miss our patients and families terribly, and can't wait to get back to normal, or at least a new normal. We miss your children's laughter and excitement, the smiles on the face of parents who are now on the right path, and knowing that a few minutes have led to a lifetime of change. We'll all get there together, and the NC tongue Tie center will be there to welcome you back.

Peace and Love from six feet away,
Dr. Ray

Hope everyone is hanging in there!

For those that I need to do followup consults with- my apologies for the delay. We are currently getting a video consult portal setup and will start using it ASAP. I will contact you soon I promise!