As new parents, you might experience common baby struggles that can feel overwhelming, like reflux(spitting up a lot), colic (lots of crying and fussiness), difficulty feeding, not gaining enough weight,general discomfort or fussiness, excessive dribbling, or trouble sleeping.

 

While these issues can have many different causes, at The Oral Function Clinic, we focus on discovering if they're linked to subtle but significant problems with your baby's mouth and the tension this can create in their tiny bodies. We believe in getting to the root cause of these problems.

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Our Whole Baby Approach: It's All Connected!
 

We understand that your baby's mouth isn't just a separate part of their body; it's deeply and intricately connected to everything else. When there are restrictions in the mouth, like a tight tongue-tie, low tone, or increased muscle tension, it can cause other parts of the body – like the neck, jaw, or shoulders – to become tense. This tension can then impact your baby's overall comfort, feeding abilities, and even their sleep, which is why our assessment looks at your baby as a whole.

 

We do more than just a quick look inside their mouth.

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We perform:

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• Mouth Assessments (Oral Assessments): We carefully examine your baby's tongue, lips, roof of their mouth (palate), and jaw. We check their structure, how stretchy the "ties" (frenulums) are, and most importantly, how well your baby can suck, swallow, and breathe – these are crucial for feeding well.

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• Body Tension Assessments: We gently feel and observe your baby's overall body tension, their posture, how freely they can move their head and shoulders, and any signs that they might be uncomfortable or holding tension in certain areas.
  
   

Our Special Focus: The "Three Ts" – Ties, Tone, and Tension
 

Our main area of expertise is helping babies with what we call the "Three Ts": Ties, Tone, and Tension issues.

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Ties (Frenulums): We specialise in accurately identifying and, when truly needed, gently releasing restrictive oral ties. These are often called tongue-tie (where the tissue under the tongue is too tight and affecting the function of the tongue). Our lead practitioner, Emily Clayton, is a highly qualified and experienced Tongue-Tie Practitioner and ensures that any procedure is done with great care and precision.

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Tone: We assess if your baby's mouth muscles are too tight (which can make it hard to move their tongue or jaw) or too floppy (which can make sucking weak). Our goal is to help these muscles work just right, so your baby can feed, swallow, and breathe more easily.

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Tension: We pinpoint and work on any tension your baby might be holding in their body as a way to cope with an oral restriction. This might involve gentle hands-on work in the clinic and showing parents simple stretches or exercises to help their baby relax. Sometimes, we might also suggest seeing other specialists like paediatric osteopaths or chiropractors who can help release these body tensions further.

 

At The Oral Function Clinic, our care doesn't stop after an assessment or procedure. We walk alongside you throughout your baby's journey. Our service includes:

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• Personalised Plans: We create a plan just for your baby, covering assessment, any recommended treatment, and all the support you'll need afterwards, with follow up appointments available should these be necessary!

• Tie Release (Frenulotomy): If a tongue tie division is recommended, it's performed precisely and safely, and only once the appropriate work has been done beforehand to prepare the tongue for the procedure.  We do not believe in a 'cut and run' approach, as this can often create further challenges down the line, and will therefore rarely perform a frenulotomy at the first initial appointment, but instead, schedule a follow up appointment for the procedure approx 7-10 days later.

• Clear Aftercare Advice: You'll receive easy-to-follow instructions for essential aftercare, including gentle exercises to help the area heal well and improve your baby's mouth function.

• Teamwork and Referrals: We believe in working together with other practitioners. We partner with other trusted professionals, like paediatric osteopaths, dentists and myofunctional therapists. Our clear referral system means if your baby needs help beyond what we provide, we'll seamlessly guide you to the right expert!
   

Our mission is to help your family understand the reasons behind your baby's challenges and offer effective and gentle solutions to overcome them. We aim to help your baby achieve optimal oral function, feel more comfortable, and generally thrive from their very first days.