Functional Frenectomies Across a Lifespan: A multidisciplinary approach to why, when, and how.

Functional Frenectomies Across a Lifespan: A multidisciplinary approach to why, when, and how. is organized by American Laser Study Club (ALSC) and will be held from Jun 15 - 16, 2019 at Arizona Breastfeeding Medicine and Wellness, Scottsdale, Arizona, United States of America.

Continuing Education Credits:
• 15 CERP CDE credits
• 15 AMA PRA Category 1 credits™

Instructors:
Martin Kaplan, DMD, DABLS
Cara Riek, DNP, RN, FNP-BC, IBCLC, DABLS
Shelly Klein, MD, DABLS, CSOM
Stevanie Bahnerth, DC
Peter Vitruk, PhD, MInstP, CPhys

Introduction:
As many as 5-percent of all babies born in the US have tongue-ties significant enough to cause breastfeeding difficulties. Affected babies often fail to thrive and can be erroneously labeled as “lazy nursers” or “stubborn feeders”. Untreated tongue-ties may cause malocclusion, prognathism, mouth breathing and other issues later in life. Enhance your understanding of the issues of pediatric laser surgery to treat tongue-ties and lip-ties across all ages.

A good surgical laser for cutting soft tissue must be able to efficiently vaporize soft tissue, while at the same time efficiently coagulating surgical margins. Not all laser wavelengths are suitable to comply with both requirements. This course focuses on the practical aspects of soft tissue laser surgery, as well as on the fundamental processes involved in the laser-tissue interaction and helps attendees learn how deep the laser beam cuts and how deep the coagulation and hemostasis extend into the surgical margins. Our hands-on participation lab is designed to train attendees on what surgical lasers can do safely and efficiently.

Clinical Curriculum:
The goal of infant frenectomy is to establish proper eating/breastfeeding and breathing (suck-swallow-breathe) patterns. The goal of functional frenectomy in children, adolescents and adults is to release the restricted frena and to restore, with the help of mandatory pre- and post-frenectomy Oro-Myofunctional Therapy (OMT), the mobility and functionality of tongue and lips for optimal breathing,
speech, chewing, swallow, and posture. During this course, the attendees will learn:
• Infant sucking physiology and how tongue ties impact infant suck.
• Current methods of clinical assessment, diagnosis and treatment of lingual and labial ties.
• Reliable diagnostic criteria to screen babies for this condition.
• Consequences and benefits of using lasers to remove oral restrictions.

In addition, attendees will :
• Get an introduction to Science-based, safe and efficient use of surgical lasers for Dentists, Lactation Consultants, Speech and Language Therapists, et al.; and
• Learn to remove oral restrictions using soft-tissue lasers through participation in a hands-on workshop.

Laser Curriculum:
Laser Surgery and Safety Basic Knowledge Certification Curriculum for this Course has been developed by the American Laser Study Club (ALSC). The ALSC’s curriculum overcomes the known limitations of many laser dentistry courses and includes the detailed physics of soft tissue ablation and coagulation with laser and hot tip (non-laser) devices. Laser hands-on wetlab on tissue samples will include different laser wavelengths and will include laser safety instructions and demonstrations. Laser instructions will be assisted by guest speaker Peter Vitruk, PhD, MlnstP, CPhys, DABLS, a laser physicist who founded the American Laser Study Club and LightScalpel LLC.

Hands-On Participation Session:
• Laser Safety
• Laser Surgical Technique Simulations
• Superficial Ablation
• Shallow Incisions
• Deep Incisions
• Superficial Coagulation 
• Practicing Surgical Techniques on a Pig jaw