Lingual frenulum: quantitative evaluation proposal.

UNLABELLED: The purpose of this study was to establish a quantitative method to classify lingual frenulum as normal and altered.

METHODS

98 people were included in this study. All measurements were made with maxium opening of the mouth. A digital caliper was used to measure the length of the frenulum under three conditions: a) with the tongue tip on the incisal papilla; b) with the tongue sucked up and maintained against the hard palate; and c) with tongue stretching over a spatula.

RESULTS

Observations indicated that the most useful and statistically significant way of measuring frenulum length was achieved with maximum mouth opening and the tongue tip on the incisal papilla.

CONCLUSION

This quantitative method was demonstrated to be effective for identifying and distinguishing normal and altered frenular length.