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I recently took my 7 and 5 year old daughters to the dentist for their yearly check-up and was told by the dentist that they needed to have minor surgery to have the nerve that is attached from the back of the lips to the gum (between the front teeth) snipped. He told me what it was called but for the life of me I can't remember. Anyways he went on the explain that because this nerve is to close to the base of the gum there was a great possibility that they would have a gap between their front teeth if this procedure was not done. I had previously taken them to other dentist's and this condition was never mentioned. I honestly don't know what to do. Will this procedure hurt? will it prevent my girls from having a gap between their front teeth? will they still need braces when they are older? if anybody knows anything about this procedure can you please share your info with me ?

Never heard of it. Is this a general dentist?

Please get a second and third opinion.

this procedure is called a frenectomy-It isn't a very invasive procedure. It will feel more like a mild pizza burn. I work in orthodontics-seen it many-many times. Kids do very well with the procedure. No need to worry. It may help prevent the space between the teeth or the severity of the space. It can also prevent speech problems due to a very large space-called diastima. But it may not prevent braces because there are may more developmental issues that can happen which your orthodontist can tell you about. Some dentists are very educated about orthodontia problems and what can develop, some are not-reason being is because orthodontist have to go thru 4 yrs college, dnetal school, graduate as a dentist and then go on to orthodontic residency. So dentists and orthodontics work very close together to treat their patients but orthodontics is a specialty practice. Good luck-let me know how it goes or if you have any questions.

Yes, it is called a frenectomy and the tissue they snip is the frenum. It is not nerve tissue, however. It is a tiny muscle and the overlying skin.

I had the procedure done when I was 12. By that time I had already developed a space inbetween my two front teeth. My parents were nervous about the procedure and didn't do it when I was small, so I then had to have braces across the front 4 teeth for some months. My nephew had the same thing and because his parents allowed him to get the skin snipped when he was little he didn't need to have the braces. I just had it done in a specialist dentist office. I remember it didn't hurt much, and I was just sensitive on my upper mouth for a few days. Hope this helps :)

I was around 9 when I had mine done. I think I was told it was to make me have a prettier smile. Anyway, I still have a space between my teeth! :confused:

:) Thank you for sharing your information with me, I feel more at ease with this situation. Let me ask another question? When you had this procedure done was local anesteshia used to numb the area?

Thank you for sharing your knowledge of this procedure with me, you really eased my mind about having it done on my daughters. Can you tell me what kind of anesteshia is used when this is done?