• Alon Haham, Ronella Marom, Laurence Mangel, Eyal Botzer, and Shaul Dollberg.
• 1 Department of Neonatology, Tel Aviv Medical Center, Tel Aviv, Israel, affiliated with Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University , Tel Aviv, Israel .
• Breastfeed Med. 2014 Nov 1; 9 (9): 438-41.

ObjectiveThe prevalence of a lingual frenulum in newborn infants is reportedly 0.3-12%. The purpose of this study was to describe the prevalence of a lingual frenulum based on the Coryllos classification in nonselected newborn infants after delivery, hypothesizing that it is higher than the values reported in the literature.Study DesignThe lingual frenula of 200 healthy infants were evaluated by visual examination and palpation within the first 3 days after delivery. The frenulum was categorized according to the four Coryllos classifications. Each infant's mother responded, immediately after the examination, to a structured questionnaire on the quality and type of feeding. An additional structured telephone interview with the 179 breastfeeding mothers was conducted 2 weeks later.ResultsAll but one infant (n=199) had an observable or palpable lingual frenulum that was Coryllos type 1 (n=5), type 2 or 3 (n=147), or type 4 (n=47). Although our study was not powered enough to test for any correlation between the cessation of breastfeeding and the type of frenulum, we found no statistical correlation between the Coryllos type of lingual frenulum and the presence of breastfeeding difficulties.ConclusionsA lingual frenulum is a normal anatomical finding whose insertion point and Coryllos classification are not correlated with breastfeeding difficulties. We suggest that the term "lingual frenulum" should be used for anatomical description and that the term "tongue-tie" be reserved for a lingual frenulum associated with breastfeeding difficulties in newborns.

20 keywords...

hide…