Prevalence of ankyloglossia in newborns of palmas (Brazil)

Ankyloglossia is considered a congenital anomaly characterized by the short insertion of the lingual brake. Babies with this anomaly may present restrict tongue mobility, providing swallowing difficulties, deficiency in breastfeeding, and even early weaning. The present study verified the prevalence of ankyloglossia in newborns, frenotomies performed, and the mothers’ profile regarding chemical dependence, according to individual medical records from January 2017 to February 2018. This is a documentary analytical cross-sectional research, of a quantitative nature, at the Hospital and Maternity Dona Regina in the capital of Palmas city, State of Tocantins, Brazil. The 5,697 individual medical records with the multidisciplinary evaluation of physicians, dentists and speech therapists and the electronic database of the Joint Accommodation (ALCON) were analyzed. The results showed that Palmas has a 16.1% incidence of ankyloglossia, that males were the most affected (62.5%), and that there was a significant difference for users of illicit drugs, alcohol, and tobacco (p<0.001). Illicit drugs showed a high degree of incidence of this genetic alteration, with 80% of cases. It was concluded that Palmas presents a high prevalence of ankyloglossia when compared to other regions of Brazil and the world, in addition, the effects of maternal chemical addictions seem to be associated with the incidence of the lack of cellular apoptosis of the lingual frenulum of the fetus.