Comparisons of the Latching on between Newborns with Tongue-Tie and Normal Newborns
Pawin Puapornpong MD*, Kasem Raungrongmorakot MD*, Visan Mahasitthiwat MD**, Sukwadee Ketsuwan RN***
Affiliation : * Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine, Srinakharinwirot University, Nakhon Nayok, Thailand ** Department of Otolaryngology Head & Neck Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Srinakharinwirot University, Nakhon Nayok, Thailand *** Obstetric & Gynecology Nursing Department, HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Medical Center, Nakhon Nayok, Thailand
Background : Breastfeeding is recommended as the exclusive feeding for the first six months of the newborns life. Difficulty
in latching and breastfeeding resulting from tongue-tie are believed to be a problem.
Objective : To compare the latching on between newborns with tongue-tie (ankyloglossia) and normal newborns.
Material and Method: The subjects were 833 normal, postpartum women who delivered without complications at HRH
Princess Maha Chakri Sririndhorn Medical Center in Nakhon Nayok Province between January and June 2013. Their
newborns oral cavities’ were checked for tongue-tie screening and diagnoses using Kotlow’s criteria. Latch scores were
used for latch-on assessment at the second day postpartum. Demographic data and latch scores were collected and analyzed
by the t-test, Chi-square test, Odds ratio with 95% confidence interval and One-way of ANOVA test.
Results : The data shows that the incidence of tongue-tie was 13.4% (6.2% with mild tongue-tie, 5.5% with moderate
tongue-tie, and 1.7% with severe tongue-tie). The mean of latch scores in the tongue-tied groups were significantly lower
than that in the normal group, especially in the moderate and severe tongue-tie subgroups. The odds ratios for latch
scores were ≤8 compared between the moderate and severe tongue-tied subgroups and the score in the normal and mild
tongue-tied subgroups was 1.4.
Conclusion : The latch scores in tongue-tied newborns were significantly lower than those in normal newborns.
Keywords : Tongue-tie, Latch score, Breastfeeding
