Infant and Pediatric Tongue- and Lip-Ties, and Laser Frenectomy

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A Welcome from Dr. Delarosa

“This course offers practical guidance for clinicians seeking to better understand the evaluation and treatment of tethered oral tissues. I am pleased to recommend this educational opportunity.”
– Robert Delarosa, DDS, Past President of the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry

Introduction

Enhance your understanding of the issues of pediatric laser dentistry, including tongue-ties and lip-ties! As many as 5 percent of all babies born in the US have tongue-ties significant enough to cause breastfeeding difficulties. Affected babies often fail to thrive and can be erroneously labeled as “lazy nursers” or “stubborn feeders.” These restrictions can affect orthodontic outcomes, speech, and overall oral health.

A good surgical laser for cutting soft tissue must be able to vaporize soft tissue, while at the same time efficiently coagulating surgical margins. Not all laser wavelengths are suitable to comply with both requirements. This course focuses on the practical aspects of soft tissue laser surgery and on the fundamental processes involved in the laser-tissue interaction; it helps attendees learn how deep the laser beam cuts and how deep the coagulation and hemostasis extend into the surgical margins. Our hands-on participation lab is designed to train attendees on what surgical lasers can do safely and efficiently.

Instructors

• Brynn Leroux, DDS
• Amanda Western, RN, IBCLC, CST
• Melissa Mugno, OMT
• Peter Vitruk, PhD, MInstP
• Special Guest: Robert Delarosa, DDS
  Past President of the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry

Read instructor biographies.

CE Credits

Earn up to 16 CE hours through our ADA CERP CE partner.

Clinical Curriculum

• Background and significance of Tethered Oral Tissues (TOTS);
• Diagnosis of pediatric tongue- and lip-ties;
• Multi-disciplinary approach to treating pediatric tongue- and lip-ties;
• Lactation support for the breastfeeding tongue-tied dyad;
• Bodywork and alternative therapy for the tongue-tied baby;
• Setting expectations with families and patients;
• Current methods of clinical assessment, diagnosis and treatment of pediatric lingual and labial ties.

Attendees will be able to:

• Describe infant sucking physiology and how tongue-ties impair infant suck;
• Appropriately use reliable diagnostic criteria to screen babies and children for this condition;
• Understand how oral restrictions can affect orthodontic outcomes, speech, and overall oral health; and
• List and define all consequences and benefits of using lasers to remove oral restrictions.

Laser Curriculum

The Laser Surgery and Safety Basic Knowledge Certification Curriculum for this Course has been developed by the American Laser Study Club (ALSC). The ALSC’s curriculum overcomes the known limitations of many laser dentistry courses and includes the detailed physics of soft tissue ablation and coagulation with laser and hot tip (non-laser) devices. Laser hands-on wet lab on tissue samples will include laser safety instructions, frenectomy simulations, and other surgical laser procedure demonstrations. Laser instructions will be assisted by the guest speaker, Peter Vitruk, PhD, MInstP, a laser physicist who founded the American Laser Study Club and LightScalpel Inc.

Hands-On Participation Session

• Laser Safety
• Laser Surgical Technique Simulations
• Superficial Ablation
• Shallow Incisions
• Deep Incisions
• Practicing Surgical Techniques on a Pig Jaw

Course Certificates

Course participants, who successfully complete the examination, will be awarded a LASER SAFETY basic knowledge CERTIFICATE from the Board of Laser Safety of the Laser Institute of America (DISCOUNTED cost for the ALSC members), as well as a Laser Dentistry and Laser Surgery Basic Knowledge and Hands-On participation Wet lab CERTIFICATE from the American Laser Study Club (FREE for the course participants).

About the ALSC

The American Laser Study Club was founded to promote science-based laser dentistry, surgery, and safety education. The ALSC is proud of its curriculum and its distinguished membership, including our honorary members Gordon J. Christensen, DDS, MSD, PhD, and Rella P. Christensen, RDH, PhD, world-renowned leaders in dental product research and education, who welcomed the ALSC’s mission: “Peter, we congratulate you on starting a laser study club. It is greatly needed, and you are the man to do it.” Other Honorary Members of the ALSC are Charles M. Cobb, DDS, MS, PhD, Professor Emeritus, Department of Periodontics, School of Dentistry, University of Missouri-Kansas City; and C. Kumar N. Patel, PhD, MS, the Inventor of the CO₂ Laser; Recipient of National Medal of Science (1996); Member of US National Inventors Hall of Fame 2012; Professor Emeritus, UCLA. The ALSC is proud to have helped many dentists and surgeons.