As a leading pediatric dentist in San Antonio, Dr. Torres and her staff at Kids World Pediatric Dentistry has had many patients with issues in chewing, eating, and swallowing and their parents have lived with it after their family doctor couldn’t find a solution or chalked it up to “maybe that’s the way they are.”.
Children with tongue ties and lip ties that haven’t been treated may develop eating problems over the course of their childhood. Many times, we have parents come in for eating issues and they haven’t had any issues with breastfeeding, or sometimes they did have issues but couldn’t get the help they needed.
Unfortunately, many healthcare providers aren’t trained for this and do not check for ties. Or, if they do, they don’t know what to do with them.
Once solids are introduced, children have difficulties in chewing and swallowing due to issues with tongue movements. The tongue should be able to move side to side (lateralization) and up along the jaw to form a bolus that is then swallowed.
However, with thin baby cereals, this is not needed, and it’s often seen as messy—dribbles all over, with the child able to swallow only a bit of it.
Lip ties can cause an open mouth posture, which makes swallowing difficult. Also, due to poor control, the food either gets stuck to the cheeks or even initiates gagging.
This makes the child learn that certain foods are difficult to eat and develop a negative relationship with them. They often only prefer liquids or semi-solids.
How to identify if it’s a tie-related eating issue:
- Child only eats specific textures of food.
- Child eats with an open mouth.
- Messy eating.
- Gagging during eating.
- Dribbles during eating.
- Food stuck on the cheeks requires manual removal.
- Swallowing only after drinking water.
- Comfortable with liquid and semi-solid foods.
- In older children, predominantly pouching in the cheeks makes it soggy before swallowing.
What are mostly behavioral eating issues?
- Child refusing to eat a particular food group, e.g., vegetables.
- Child throws non-preferred foods and sticks to preferred ones.
- Child has never been exposed to different textures of food and is predominantly only on mashed foods.
If you notice any of these symptoms in your child, don’t hesitate to book an appointment with Dr. Torres at Kids World Pediatric Dentistry. Early intervention can make a world of difference in helping your little one develop healthy eating habits and a positive relationship with food. Give us a call at (210) 787-1200 or book online to schedule today!
About Us
Kids World Pediatric Dentistry (Best Pediatric Dental Clinic in San Antonio, Best Pediatric Dentist in San Antonio) – Specialized Pediatric Dentistry with Dr. Marielena Torres-Ricart
San Antonio
20711 Wilderness Oak, Ste. 103 San Antonio, TX 78258
Phone: (210) 787-1200 Email: info@kidsworldpediatricdental.com
Open Hours
Monday: 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM Tuesday: 7:00 AM – 3:00 PM Wednesday: 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM Thursday: 7:00 AM – 3:00 PM
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