Tongue position for lingual frenulum assessment

ABSTRACT Purpose: to compare the movements of elevation and protrusion of the tongue in order to determine which position provides better lingual frenulum assessment. Methods: a database of 92 audiovisual recordings of subjects over six-years of age diagnosed with ankyloglossia was used to verify the shape of the tip of the tongue during tongue elevation and protrusion. The Chi-Square Test for Proportion was applied to verify possible differences between the postures of elevation and protrusion. The significance level of 5% (p<0.05) was adopted. Results: the statistical analysis demonstrated that both shapes, i.e., the V-shaped one and the heart-shaped one are more visible during tongue elevation than during tongue protrusion. Conclusion: elevation is the position that allows the best observation of the shape of the tip of the tongue.