Adult ankyloglossia and halitosis: a case report

ABSTRACT

Ankyloglossia is a developmental anomaly of the tongue, characterized by a short lingual frenulum, resulting in a restricted movement of the tongue. Although some practitioners believe that in adults ankyloglossia is most often asymptomatic, others have alleged that it may contribute to speech and mechanical cleaning problems, due to impaired tongue mobility. This paper reported the case of an adult patient whose principal complaint was halitosis, caused mainly by a mechanical difficulty in cleaning her tongue. The clinical management was frenuloplasty, which increased tongue movement and facilitated its mechanical cleaning, thus controlling halitosis