Green Tea Conversations
Treating Lip and Tongue Ties with Dr. Agnes Schindler
June 9, 2019
Meet Dr. Agnes Schindler, a holistic dentist at Natural Smiles Dental Care in Shoreview. Dr. Schindler explains what a lip and tongue tie are, the symptoms a person afflicted will experience, and the holistic approach Natural Smiles Dental Care offers to treat their patients. For more information, visit NaturalSmilesDental.com, or to make an appointment call (651) 483-9800.


Treating Lip and Tongue Ties with Dr. Agnes Schindler


[00:00:02.960] - Candi Broeffle, Host
Good morning And welcome to Green Tea Conversations. The radio show that delves into the pages of Natural Awakenings magazine to bring you the local experts who share their progressive ideas and the latest information and insights needed so you can lead your best life. I'm your host, Candi Broeffle publisher, the Twin Cities edition of Natural Awakenings magazine. And today's guest is Dr. Agnes Schindler, who is a holistic dentist at Natural Smile Dental Care in Shoreview. Welcome to the show, Dr. Agnes!
 
[00:00:36.240] 
To get us started, we're going to talk today about both lip ties and tongue tie and tongue tie release, but we'll get into that in just a bit.
 
[00:00:47.160] 
So first I just wanted to find out a little bit about you. I always like to ask what made you interested in getting into dentistry?
 
[00:00:57.480] - Dr. Agnes Schindler, Guest
Well, it was a little longer road. I wasn't born or a young child thinking, I want to be a dentist, like a lot of dentists. I went to college and I tried things out, like physical therapy, veterinary school. And my senior year, I went to South Africa, actually. And we did some mission work there. And I came back realizing that I wanted to find something that I could do mission work with and use my hands. I really liked doing artwork also. And so somehow at the bottom of the bar was the dentistry.
 
[00:01:32.610] 
And I went shadowed one. And it was the only thing I was like, oh, get out of the way. I want to do that. And here I am.
 
[00:01:40.090] - Candi Broeffle, Host
Wow. That's really interesting. And you went to school. You're actually from the Twin Cities for you.
 
[00:01:45.610] - Dr. Agnes Schindler, Guest
Correct.
 
[00:01:46.070] - Candi Broeffle, Host
You grew up where?
 
[00:01:47.410] - Dr. Agnes Schindler, Guest
In Cortland on a dairy farm. And then I went to St. Ben's for undergrad. And then I went to dental school out in Portland because I was really big to the out west. I wanted to go west. I wanted to be a Park Ranger when I was a Park Ranger who's a dentist? Yeah. So I was actually working in the Rocky Mill National Park. And that's when I realized I wanted to be a dentist because I want to work with people and not trees, even though I love trees. But then I said, Well, I will go to school out here, and I'll get the best of both worlds.
 
[00:02:19.240] - Candi Broeffle, Host
And then you came back to the 20s area. What brought you back?
 
[00:02:23.200] - Dr. Agnes Schindler, Guest
My dad, my family just wanting to be back home, close to family.
 
[00:02:27.620] - Candi Broeffle, Host
That happens a lot when people start kind of looking at having families and we think we want to get away, and then we end up coming back.
 
[00:02:34.960] - Dr. Agnes Schindler, Guest
Yes.
 
[00:02:36.150] - Candi Broeffle, Host
So what brought you to natural smiles? Dental care?
 
[00:02:41.080] - Dr. Agnes Schindler, Guest
Well, I heard about natural smiles, and I found natural smile. I started really getting into understanding and looking at the dentistry I was providing. And the thing that I really found unique about natural smiles as they look at the whole body as whole body as a person, which not just the teeth as the person. So they really we look at the problems of wiser crowding, wiser bleeding, and we think about it as as a whole body. And so it's a very integrative clinic. There's about three or four holistic clinics in the area, but we're probably the most integrative one.
 
[00:03:29.830] 
We have Cranial Sacral that comes there. We have a myofunctional therapist that comes there. We also have Denise that test the energy of each tooth and how it can affect the whole body energetically and just to treat the body as a whole. And so is very unique. We try to provide as many services we can for our patients.
 
[00:03:54.240] - Candi Broeffle, Host
And we should say Dr. Madeline Pearson is the owner and the founder of the clinic. And so you work with her as a dentist in the office?
 
[00:04:04.500] - Dr. Agnes Schindler, Guest
Yes. That is very correct.
 
[00:04:07.070] - Candi Broeffle, Host
So let's get into one of your specialties, which is a lip and tongue tie release before we do that, though, let's talk about what are these things. So let's start off with the lip tie. What is a lip tie?
 
[00:04:21.410] - Dr. Agnes Schindler, Guest
Okay. So you have the lip and then you have the gums and in between them, there's a tissue, a membrane, and most people have them. And if it's basically the normal length or it's functioning correctly, it's just called frenulum. However, a lot of times it's too thick or really short and it can't move. It's restricted. So. So, example, like for babies, if the lip can't move and it can't slang up, it can affect breastfeeding. Or if it's too far down on the palette, it can cause a space between the two front teeth.
 
[00:05:04.500] 
Or, like, even in babies with the primary teeth, if the lip tie is too wide, they call it hooded. It can trap the food in there and it can cause decay. So it's not the structure. It's how it functions and the restrict ability of it
 
[00:05:26.900] - Candi Broeffle, Host
Just because you see the tissue between your lip and the gum. Just because there is a tissue there, it doesn't mean that that's a problem. That's normal.

[00:05:36.980] - Dr. Agnes Schindler, Guest
No. If it's functioning correctly and the structure is okay, it would be called a frenulum, like maxillary frenulum instead of a maxillary lip tie.
 
[00:05:46.840] - Candi Broeffle, Host
And now I know. So I can tell all my friends what that is.
 
[00:05:50.800] - Dr. Agnes Schindler, Guest
Yeah. So a lot of people will say, oh, I have this. This. It looks like this. But it's not about what it looks like, all the functions or functions.
 
[00:06:02.080] - Candi Broeffle, HosĨ
So what about a tongue tie? What is the difference? I tie in a tone.
 
[00:06:06.520] - Dr. Agnes Schindler, Guest
So the difference is the tongue-tie is the space between under your tongue to the floor of the mouth. And so if that's too short and the tongue is not able to rest on the palette and not able to function correctly, it can have lifelong effects. So, again, just the definition is it's restricted in movement and ability to basically go where it's supposed to go. So again, everybody under their tongue could have that issue there. But again, it's a function that's important.
 
[00:06:41.620] - Candi Broeffle, Host
So this really isn't something that you hear a lot about. I mean, honestly, before I met you, I never heard about it. I've seen it in my own children and in other adults, that type of thing. You've seen it. But I never realize that it could be a problem. Is this something that you learn a lot about in dentistry?
 
[00:07:02.520] - Dr. Agnes Schindler, Guest
We learned about it in school, but we didn't learn about it in depth. It's such a new field that the research is just starting to come now, and they're learning more and more. And it's growing and changing. So trying to go to as many courses as I can to kind of learn and grow and change with it. And so they're just learning more and more with the more research they are doing, how it can affect, say, an undiagnosed tongue-tie as a baby, how it can affect them as an adult.
 
[00:07:35.460] - Candi Broeffle, Host
Okay. And we're going to talk more about that, too, as we go lunch. But what got you interested in it in particular?

[00:07:42.570] - Dr. Agnes Schindler, Guest
Well, when I heard about it and learn more about it, I thought I had that same problem with one of my children. And so the more we looked into it, we realize that that is also since we like to look at the body as a whole and a whole-body approach, why not start when they're a baby? And so it just made sense. I'm a mom. Dr. Pearson, Madeline's a mom. And we're like, we just really felt like this could be an Avenue where we could really help people more people.
 
[00:08:11.280] 
And then also, if we treat them when they're a baby, hopefully when they're older, we can say, oh, well, that's so great. You're not struggling with that. When you do the penectomy, when their baby, it's just multiple benefits. It's just a very quick, small procedure and versus say, when their children are adults, like, they start compensating for that problem, it's more tissue, more healing.
 
[00:08:38.220] - Candi Broeffle, Host
More getting back to a normal state afterwards.
 
[00:08:40.920] - Dr. Agnes Schindler, Guest
Yeah. It's like a little smothering smoke when they're little baby like, oh, this is a little problem. But if it gets undiagnosed when they're six years old and they're having trouble breathing and sleeping, it's a lot harder to take care of the problem.

[00:08:54.600] - Candi Broeffle, Host
So one of the things that you talked about already is just how this affects babies, that it can affect babies with breastfeeding. So when we take a look at how this affects, how maybe a lip tie or tongue tie would affect a baby, what are some of the things that people might notice?
 
[00:09:15.590] - Dr. Agnes Schindler, Guest
Again, you may notice these things and not necessarily its tongue tie, lip tie. But some of the things are the mom, in general, could have a lot of pain. Her nipples could be blistered. They could be creased clamped down on the mom. So the mom or like incomplete drainage, she may have mastitis. And then with the baby, a lot of things like poor section. Milk could be draining out on the side of the face. The baby could be clicking air could be coming in. The baby would just like fall asleep on the breast or fall off the breast, but basically just does not have a good solid latch and transfer of milk.
 
[00:09:56.620] - Candi Broeffle, Host
Okay. And so that can really affect as far as you're saying a lot of things. And it kind of makes me think, like if you're getting a lot of air, if the baby is getting a lot of air while they're nursing, how that might affect their digestion.

[00:10:11.260] - Dr. Agnes Schindler, Guest
Like reflux spinning up. Those are also some symbols as a long list of symptoms

[00:10:18.500] - Candi Broeffle, Host
Yeah. And I suppose it does also affect the amount of nutrients that they're getting in and they're grow.
 
[00:10:24.340] - Dr. Agnes Schindler, Guest
Yeah and weighting as a baby. But again, just because a baby is gaining weight or isn't isn't a number one reason that they do have a tongue tie or lip tie to kind of look at it as a whole picture. And so sometimes people think it's just that front part of the tongue. But it's the main part of the tongue that does all the work is the middle part of the tongue. And so that needs to get up to the roof of the mouth to be able to section and get the milk transferred. And so there's a lot of components to it.
 
[00:10:58.480] - Candi Broeffle, Host
And one of the interesting things. And we're going to come back and talk about this a little bit more after the break. But one of the things that I found really interesting when you and I were kind of planning for this show was how how connected our tongue is in our body. So when we come back, we're going to talk a little bit more about that. Okay.
 
[00:11:19.880] - Dr. Agnes Schindler, Guest
Okay.
 
[00:11:20.300] - Candi Broeffle, Host
So if someone wants to learn more about lip, tongue, lip or tongue ties, they can call your office. They can make an appointment with you by calling your office at 651-483-9800, or they can visit NaturalSmilesDental.Com. When we come back, we're going to continue our conversation with Dr. Agnes and find out how lip and tongue ties impact the overall health and well-being in adults. To read the online version of Natural Awakenings Magazine, visit NaturalTwinCities.com. You're listening to Green Tea Conversations on AM950, the Progressive Voice of Minnesota.
 
[00:12:02.960] 
Welcome back to Green Tea Conversations. Where we delve into the pages on Natural Awakenings magazine and talk to the professionals who share their expertise on natural health with you. I'm your host, Candi Broeffle. And today we're talking with Dr. Agna Schindler, who is a holistic dentist at Natural Smiles Dental Care in Shoreview. So just before the break, you were starting to tell us about how lip and tongue ties can affect infants. And you were telling us, like, some of the symptoms that they might experience that they are a mother whose nursing might actually exhibit.
 
[00:12:40.580] 
And so why is it so important to have this treated as an infant if it is something that they're afflicted with.
 
[00:12:52.000] - Dr. Agnes Schindler, Guest
Those symptoms that they're having, sometimes it could be basically, if they're left untreated, it could turn into a bigger problem when they're adults. So one example is speech, actually my own child. He was two years old. And around the time when I started getting interested in this, I was like, Why isn't he talking? Wasn't he saying any sounds at all? And then I went and looked under his tongue and I thought, wow, okay. And he actually had a problem breastfeeding around about five months. He had a hard time getting the milk in.
 
[00:13:27.450] 
And so my milk tanked. And I didn't know what was going on. But I thought, okay, we actually did his frenectomy, and within a day or two, he started making sounds, and it was quite miraculous. And quickly they could see it. Yeah. And so now we've brought him to speech therapy, myofunctional therapy. And it's really helped him grow with his speech. And so comparing him to my third child, I knew all the symptoms. I knew what was going on at the hospital. I could see the tongue tie.
 
[00:14:03.730] 
It was very severe my head because I was having a lot of pain. And so we did his frenectomy at four days old. And just to compare the differences again, every child is very different. So when you do the frenectomy, you get instant results. They kind of look at it as like a quick little miracle. But other babies or other adults and people, there's very complex. And there's a lot of things going on. So for my third child, that was it. And we did frenectomy, it was instant change.
 
[00:14:36.830] 
It was kind of one of those Omi feelings. And he's speaking sentences and kind of circles around his older brother in a way they're doing okay.But it's very interesting
 
[00:14:49.220] - Candi Broeffle, Host
To see what can happen with it treated properly from the beginning.
 
[00:14:53.210] - Dr. Agnes Schindler, Guest
From the beginning versus two years.
 
[00:14:54.770] - Candi Broeffle, Host
Yes. So now we know how it kind of looks with infants. What are some of the things that can happen with adults if an adult hasn't had this treated it? Anyway.
 
[00:15:09.920] - Dr. Agnes Schindler, Guest
Some of the main things are sleep like sleep apnea. They've done.
 
[00:15:14.160] - Candi Broeffle, Host
I'm sorry. I should probably say this is for both children. So that infants, the children and adults.
 
[00:15:19.540] - Dr. Agnes Schindler, Guest
children and adults. So with adults, they're realizing there's a big connection between snoring is a big number one sign. But with sleep apnea, and with children, they're basically realizing it's not sleep apnea. But it's this thing called bars B-A-R-S. And it's not a blockage of areas. So sleep apnea is a blockage of air going down the throat. So Bars is basically, there's not a blockage, but the body is not able to relax. And when there's a small narrowing in the throat, it causes arousal and it causes them to wake up.
 
[00:15:55.670] 
So they're just not sleeping well. And so they're finding all these connections between their sleep and their tongue not being able to rest where should be resting on the roof of the mouth, the palette and their breathing could be affected. Their jaw development can have a big effect. If the tongue is not up on the roof of the mouth, their jaw at times cannot develop correctly. And so they'll have a narrow opening. So again, less air going in affecting the breathing and their speech, of course, can be affected.
 
[00:16:34.880] 
And a lot of times they will just put kids on medication also. But one of the problems is that they are not sleeping well. And so it's like a circle. They are sleeping well, they aren't behaving well. They're not getting enough oxygen in sometimes times. Again, this would fall under the more complex patient where you just frenectomy would not be. The answer is it's just part of the problem. So it's a very team approach to healing.
 
[00:17:01.990] - Candi Broeffle, Host
And you do work as a team with people right inside your own office. You have a team of people who work.
 
[00:17:09.210] - Dr. Agnes Schindler, Guest
So we have a my functional therapist, a craniosacral therapist. We do have the lady name is Denise, and she does a little side subject, but she tests also the energetics of the teeth and how they can relate to the rest of the body. And so she doesn't deal with necessarily for enemies. But she's still in her office.
 
[00:17:33.780] - Candi Broeffle, Host
So if I came in and I came in to see you and I said my son isn't sleeping well. He hasn't been. He's having some speech problems. I see that he has this. He has been able to list his tongue to the top, to the roof of his mouth. That type of thing, would I be able to, like, immediately have this done, or is there something I need to do first?
 
[00:17:59.830] - Dr. Agnes Schindler, Guest
So they're finding more and more and more that it's so important that you go and have therapy for the children and adults before that, you can compare the tongue to like a muscle and it needs to be toned and trained. First of all, you go there to see. Okay. Is it a problem? Do you have a son? Does your son have a dysfunction? How severe is it? Is that if it's just a slight dysfunction, sometimes with the myofunctional therapy, that's all you need. It's amazing. Or the cranial Sacral therapy. Miracles can happen with just the therapy.
 
[00:18:34.570] - Candi Broeffle, Host
So tell us a little bit about that. Let's start with the cranial-sacral because you said cranial sacral is used for both infants and children adults. How is that used?
 
[00:18:46.210] - Dr. Agnes Schindler, Guest
So the cranial sacral therapy is basically a connection of the tissues and the membranes and the fascia are connected from basically the tongue all the way down to the toes in the nervous system. And so the cranial psychotherapist can with her light touch, she can feel and remove restrictions. And it's becoming such a well-known thing. Even at the class, the ENT was talking about cranial Sacral therapy.
 
[00:19:21.610] - Candi Broeffle, Host
and what is ENT?

[00:19:21.750] - Dr. Agnes Schindler, Guest
Ear nose and throat doctor and so it was really cool to see that.
 
[00:19:27.790] - Candi Broeffle, Host
So you just recently this weekend went to a class, another class because you continue to go to classes to learn even more and more about this. And this is something that's being seen more throughout different parts of the profession, not just with dentist, when your nose and throat.
 
[00:19:43.830] - Dr. Agnes Schindler, Guest
Your nose and throat. And the course was on understanding functional or. And that's why we're doing them. But understanding basically how best to treat the patient and how to give them the best results and optimizing success. And that way, I mean, the way to do that. The best way to do that is to be really working closely with the Myofunctional therapist. And so I would say to you to bring your son there.
 
[00:20:14.600] - Candi Broeffle, Host
And, well, my son is 32, so he can bring himself there. I was using that as an example.
 
[00:20:20.910] - Dr. Agnes Schindler, Guest
Okay.
 
[00:20:22.280] - Candi Broeffle, Host
So when we come back, we're going to talk more about the myofunctional therapist as well. And for people who want to learn more, you can visit Natural Smilesdental.com or to make an appointment, you can call 651-483-9800 to read Natural Awakenings magazine online. Visit NaturalTwinCities.Com. You can find a podcast of this show on Am950Radio.Com on Apple or Google podcasts or anywhere you get your podcast. You're listening to Green Tea Conversations on AM950, the Progressive Voice of Minnesota.
 
[00:21:03.980] 
Welcome back to Green Tea Conversations. Where we meet the professionals straight from the pages of Natural Awakenings magazine, who share their expertise on natural health with you. I'm your host, Candi Broeffle. And today we're talking with Dr. Agnes Schindler, who is a holistic dentist at Natural Smiles Dental Care in Shoreview. So just before the break, you were telling us about lip and tongue ties and how they affect the old well-being of both infants and adults. We were talking about how a patient should first work with cranial sacral therapist. But you also recommend that if it's for an infant, that they should really be seen by a lactation educator before coming to talk about frenectomy.
 
[00:21:48.410] - Dr. Agnes Schindler, Guest
Yes. So the babies, the cranial sacral therapist is really good. And then for the children and adults, a Myofunctional therapist. But they're always welcome to come in for an evaluation. We just want to make sure everyone knows that. So yes, the babies, it's really important that all babies are working with a lactation consultant just for multiple reasons. They they could just need maybe a little bit of therapy and that could optimize their breastfeeding. Maybe there's just a minor dysfunction. And sometimes with optimal breastfeeding and some cranial psychotherapy.
 
[00:22:28.290] 
You would not need the Frenectomy. So we've seen great results with just lactation and cranial psychotherapy a few weeks ago. Mom, she wasn't breastfeeding. She had all these digestive problems and miracles happened. And within a couple of weeks, she was breastfeeding. And it was night day difference. And there was no frenectomy. So it's really important to have a team approach and to to be as conservative as possible, but also as whole body as possible. Yeah.
 
[00:23:00.960] - Candi Broeffle, Host
And I like that approach. If there's anything you can do without having to actually have a surgery or have any kind of invasive work done, that's always the best step you would always recommend if somebody's coming in, not to just go straight for the frenectomy, but especially with an infant. Talk to the lactation educator and then go to the safe house.
 
[00:23:23.450] - Dr. Agnes Schindler, Guest
Unless it's like, emergency. Like, my third son, I was I could barely breastfeed because he was clamping. I was like, severe pain or the baby's not gaining weight in those circumstances or some way we'll do it right away.

[00:23:38.070] - Candi Broeffle, Host
Yeah. So that would be considered more of a severe. We're going to have to get this done.
 
[00:23:44.060] - Dr. Agnes Schindler, Guest
But if it's a baby's been month old and there's kind of on the fence, whether they want to do it or not, it's like, okay, let's first do some therapies because we've seen the results are just optimized treating the whole body, because sometimes there's a problem with the digestive issues that's causing the reflux versus it's the tongue tie.
 
[00:24:08.570] - Candi Broeffle, Host
And now you've also talked a bit about myofunctional therapist. So what does a myofunctional therapist do? In this case?

[00:24:18.240] - Dr. Agnes Schindler, Guest
They do a really thorough evaluation. First of all, it's multiple pages long, and they evaluate all the different positions and functions of the tongue. So honestly, I didn't really know before I got into this. And when I brought my son there, I watched them. And they're basically doing all these tests and evaluations to see where their tongue is moving, how they're breathing, how their jaws, how they're swallowing. And we were just going to do a speech assessment because he wasn't talking. And she said, Would you like to evaluate how he eats?
 
[00:24:51.870] 
I like, sure, we're here. Let's do everything. So she starts evaluating him, and she's like, Does he always eat like this? And I was like, yeah, sure. What's wrong with that? So it was just very eye-opening, and I learned a lot. So they
 
[00:25:07.860] - Candi Broeffle, Host
So out of curiosity. What was it that she saw with him?
 
[00:25:11.070] - Dr. Agnes Schindler, Guest
So he was basically shoving the boluses of food and he's chewing in the front of his mouth. But I didn't know if anything because I cared about that. He was eating right. And so it was very again, interesting. So they pointed out there was a couple of other things, but that was the main thing. It's been a few years now, but that was like, the main thing that I noticed that they pointed out, and they're like, that is not normal functioning. I wonder how many of us would actually know his tongue was completely tied the tip right down so he couldn't move anything of his tongue.
 
[00:25:51.630] 
It makes sense now when I look back. But when we were there, I was like, oh, what's wrong with that?
 
[00:25:56.580] - Candi Broeffle, Host
And sometimes you said with the myofunctional therapist, they can actually give exercises or give different therapies that people can do.
 
[00:26:05.730] - Dr. Agnes Schindler, Guest
Yeah, they always do. So it's like, again, the tongue is like a muscle just like any other muscle in your body. And you need to go to the gym to strengthen that muscle and tone it and increase the mobility and the posture of it. So it sounds kind of funny, probably because it's your tongue, but they are very good with giving exercises. That's the most important thing of this whole reason why we're having this talk is it's all about the therapy and the myofunctional therapy versus actually the frenectomy versus the frenectomy is it a small part in the pathway of the therapy, if that makes sense?

[00:26:44.410] - Candi Broeffle, Host
Great, because this isn't a one-and-done. It is not like you're going to come in and you're going to have this procedure done. And now all your problems have gone away.
 
[00:26:52.120] - Dr. Agnes Schindler, Guest
Yeah. So it's like we are like a pit stop, but in the middle of the it's not just we're going to do the frenectomy to get these results. It's basically to help improve the therapy. So again, we're trying to integrate in our office as many of the therapists we can to try to make it the easiest for patient, because it can get very overwhelming with all these appointments.
 
[00:27:20.450] - Candi Broeffle, Host
Right within your office. You actually do have a cranial sacral therapist who can evaluate both infants and adults. And she is also a lactation educator, so she can do that part of it. And then you also have a separate myofunctional therapist right in the office. Once a person has gone through and been evaluated, properly evaluated, and they come back and it's been determined that they do need a frenectomy. What is kind of tell us a little bit about that procedure.
 
[00:27:56.390] - Dr. Agnes Schindler, Guest
So the babies, it's pretty quick. They come in and we take photos before and after photos. We give them a little bit of a numbing gel, and then we put them in a swaddle, so everything's really safe. They're on the dental chair there. And it's a very, very quick procedure. Or probably the parents are out of the room about five minutes or so. And then we take pictures after, and we use the top-of-the-line light scalpel laser. And there's very little bleeding. And with the children and adults, we do use Novocaine, but it's a case-by-case basis about whether we use futures or not.
 
[00:28:39.930] 
And then we go over the post-op stretches after or before.
 
[00:28:44.730] - Candi Broeffle, Host
And so tell us a bit about that.
 
[00:28:47.880] - Dr. Agnes Schindler, Guest
So it's very important to make sure the tongue gets stretched upward and open. The wound gets open every 4 hours for, like, a month after. And then with the children adults, it's very important. We were doing, like, a month therapy after. But now they're even recommending more, because again, like you go to the gym, you need to keep strengthening. And the longer you've been living with the dysfunction, the more important the exercises are.
 
[00:29:19.100] - Candi Broeffle, Host
Okay.
 
[00:29:20.240] - Dr. Agnes Schindler, Guest
So yeah, it's pretty intense.
 
[00:29:24.550] - Candi Broeffle, Host
And so how long would the exercises typically take?
 
[00:29:29.100] - Dr. Agnes Schindler, Guest
So with a baby, they're just seconds like it could take a minute to do all of the exercises. And it depends if they had a lip tie or just a tongue tie. If it's just a tongue tie, it could be a few seconds. So it doesn't take very long. It's just the act of actually doing it because a lot of people think that if the tongue can go out of the mouth or, say a baby breastfeeding, then everything's okay. But the main function of the tongue is you want the tongue to be elevated to the roof of the mouth.
 
[00:29:58.610] - Candi Broeffle, Host
Okay.
 
[00:29:59.260] - Dr. Agnes Schindler, Guest
And so you want to open and lift the tongue up every 4 hours. Otherwise, the body has an amazing capability inside the mouth to heal.
 
[00:30:08.140] - Candi Broeffle, Host
Yes, he's very quickly.
 
[00:30:09.910] - Dr. Agnes Schindler, Guest
And so if you aren't doing the stretches, it could actually get tighter than it was previously. So that's why it's very, very important. So if you're not interested in doing any stretches, then you should not do any for ectomy, basically because you need to again exercise and restore proper function and tone and posture and position of the phone.
 
[00:30:32.550] - Candi Broeffle, Host
So it's a commitment. It's a commitment for a month or two months. But it's something that can last a lifetime.
 
[00:30:40.110] - Dr. Agnes Schindler, Guest
Yes.
 
[00:30:40.530] - Candi Broeffle, Host
But if you're not going to do it for that month or two months, don't get it done.
[00:30:47.060] - Dr. Agnes Schindler, Guest

Yeah. You should have, like, a more open schedule is kind of like your social function, many social function that's going on every few hours.
 
[00:30:58.080] - Candi Broeffle, Host
All right. So how long does it take? Usually for people to recover from it from having the frenectomy?
 
[00:31:05.140] - Dr. Agnes Schindler, Guest
Babies can be very quick, usually during the procedure, they are crying. But actually, my last daughter, he was smiling after, and we even do it. So the babies can be very quick. Then maybe that night they need more skin to skin, warm baths. They need more comfort. They may need some pain medication. I always tell patients to have something on hand if they need it. And the children and adults again, the older they are, the more severe the tie. Sometimes the recovery can take longer. But the more therapy you do before and the more tone and the more basically healthier everything. Usually the recovery is a little quicker, so usually about three to five days. People are.
 
[00:31:54.760] - Candi Broeffle, Host
And it's not excruciating pain.
 
[00:31:58.390] - Dr. Agnes Schindler, Guest
I mean, everybody's pain is different. So every parent they ask about their child, and I don't know if some children it's not as big a deal. And some it's a little more of a big deal. But it is usually just a few days.
 
[00:32:14.160] - Candi Broeffle, Host
Is there anything that people should avoid after they have this done? Is there any kind of food or drink or temperatures? Anything?
 
[00:32:22.630] - Dr. Agnes Schindler, Guest
Usually you avoid hard, crunchy foods because you just kind of like after an extraction. Soft foods, warm foods, cold foods like Popsicles can taste really well. They feel good. Cold, soothing foods are usually the best yogurt stuff like that.
 
[00:32:45.670] - Candi Broeffle, Host
Okay. So what are some of the results that people have experienced after having a frenectomy done?
 
[00:32:53.730] - Dr. Agnes Schindler, Guest
The results are, you know, again, the function restored. So say, somebody was having a problem with swallowing in speech the other day? Asked. And the speech was a slower improvement. But she's like, man, I noticed a huge improvement with the swallowing right away. Or a three-year-old was having a problem sleeping. Couldn't, I don't think ever slept like the full night through and after the frenectomy is like the first time they ever slept. So it can affect the sleep swallowing the speech. But sometimes the speech is sooner and sometimes it's later.
 
[00:33:29.590] 
Sometimes people they have, like, lower tone in their tongues, so it's going to be a lot slower results after the frenectomy again, they need way more therapy, or they may need multiple therapies versus. If someone has a really strong tone tongue, that's a much quicker and faster success.
 
[00:33:50.340] - Candi Broeffle, Host
Okay, well, to learn more, people can visit Natural Smiles dental. Com or if they'd like to make an appointment, you can call 651-483-9800. That's 651-483-9800. When we come back, we're going to continue our conversation with Doctor Schindler and to read an online edition of Natural Awakenings Magazine. Visit NaturalTwinCities.com. You can find a podcast of the show on Am 950Radio.com or on Apple and Google Podcast. You're listening to Green Tea Conversations on AM950, the Progressive Voice of Minnesota.
 
[00:34:33.250] - Candi Broeffle, Host
Welcome back to Green Tea Conversations. Where we delve into the pages and Natural Awakenings Magazine and talk to the professionals who share their expertise on natural health with you. I'm your host, Candi Broeffle. And today we're talking about Dr. Agnes Schindler, who is a holistic dentist at Natural Smiles Dental Care in Shorerville. And we have been talking about lip and tongue ties and the different treatments that you offer at the office and the different types of therapies that you have before they go into have what's called a frenectomy, which is actually a laser treatment in order to help release that. Correct.
 
[00:35:09.220] - Dr. Agnes Schindler, Guest
Correct. Okay.
 
[00:35:10.780] - Candi Broeffle, Host
And so we've been talking about that. And now I'd like to learn more about what are some of the other holistic practices that you have at the office? What are some of the other things that you do?
 
[00:35:21.970] - Dr. Agnes Schindler, Guest
I guess I could make one comment about that the laser treatment to we are starting to use scissors and lasers. So that might be so at the same time, it's more again of an integrative for me. So I just want everybody is always asking questions, what do you use and how long does it take?
 
[00:35:42.210] - Candi Broeffle, Host
What is the benefit of using?
 
[00:35:45.180] - Dr. Agnes Schindler, Guest
The laser? So the light scalpels of CO2 laser, and one of the most amazing things about it is it's very lasers can be very damaging. And so I was actually at a laser class again this weekend. One of the day was and they talked about basically all the lasers not to use. And one of the main reasons they all should not be used is each laser should be used specific for the best treatment. So if you're getting eye surgery, you don't want to use X laser. And so anyways, the benefit of the CO2 laser, it's the best hands-down laser to use for soft tissue.
 
[00:36:25.940] 
And so one of the main reasons for that is the healing from it. You're going to get optimal results. Like a negative result would be the laser charring all the tissue and smoke coming out. And it's just not good healing results. So we want to give again the patient the best chance for success after. Yeah. I just wanted to throw that in.
 
[00:36:49.580] - Candi Broeffle, Host
And so now you're starting to add scissors.
 
[00:36:52.140] - Dr. Agnes Schindler, Guest
Yeah. We might use that in combination with the light scalpel.
 
[00:36:55.560] - Candi Broeffle, Host
Okay.
 
[00:36:57.380] - Dr. Agnes Schindler, Guest
I just want to throw that out there.
 
[00:36:59.010] - Candi Broeffle, Host
Sure. Sure So another another practice that you have or another procedure that you offer is amalgam removal. So basically, what is amalgam removal?
 
[00:37:13.840] - Dr. Agnes Schindler, Guest
Amalgam removal. We're taking removing your amalgam. And so the different amalgams are silver fillings. And so people are removing them in all dental offices every day. That just the difference. When we take them out, we use more safety protocols to remove them
 
[00:37:34.990] - Candi Broeffle, Hos
Because it can be dangerous. Most of the Amalgams have Mercury.
 
[00:37:41.470] - Dr. Agnes Schindler, Guest
There is Mercury in the Amalgam. So we have the patient wears a gown. You do have the option. So we don't require that someone comes in and wants them out or they're having problems with them. They do have the option, whether or not they want to use the protocol. But again, there's probably about four or five offices and Twin cities that do use the protocol.
 
[00:38:08.120] - Candi Broeffle, Host
And it is safer that way. You also have something called ozone therapy.
 
[00:38:14.170] - Dr. Agnes Schindler, Guest
Ozone therapy is not O2 oxygen. It's O3. So it's a gas, and we use it every single day. We use it under all of our filings. We use it if for patients that have sensitivity, it's very safe. And we've seen great results with it.
 
[00:38:34.520] - Candi Broeffle, Host
And so how is it used? Is it just something that's applied?
 
[00:38:39.170] - Dr. Agnes Schindler, Guest
So it's a good question. You can't see it. And so it's in like a syringe. And we use how we push it out of the syringe. So we put it under say, we take the filling out and there's a cavity in there. So we will apply it with that syringe underneath the filling so you can look at it as more of like a sterilization before we put the filling in. Because one of the main problems with all fillings is they can get bacteria under them and decay again.
 
[00:39:11.660] 
So then people are coming back in for a new filling or new Crown. And so by putting the ozone under before the filling or the Crown, it can really help do the best we can to prevent the cavity coming back.
 
[00:39:26.880] - Candi Broeffle, Host
Okay. So if you're having. Like, root sensitivity
 
[00:39:31.540] - Dr. Agnes Schindler, Guest
And there's no cavity, so we're not going to do a filling. The filling would be say, if we've tried all of our conservative treatments and they're still having problems that we cannot get rid of it, then we would put just a filling on there. But one of the things we can try is to put a ozone and treat that area with some ozone gas.
 
[00:39:52.810] - Candi Broeffle, Host
And now you also have something that you do called elf.
 
[00:39:56.960] - Dr. Agnes Schindler, Guest
The self-orthodontic Dr. Pearson does that. And that is a light wire appliance that can go into both jaws. One jaw art and the Mandela. So the reason for that and the benefit of that is, again, kind of ties into what we were talking earlier. If someone comes in and they have really a lot of crowding or they're bite is really deep. So this is more an orthodontics to move the bone versus to move the teeth. And so one of the benefits of this, if you do it as a younger child and there's kind of a window that we offer that in the office just because it connects to the baby teeth.
 
[00:40:45.060] 
So the little attachments of the wire connect to the baby teeth. So if there are no baby teeth left, then we don't generally do it. Some offices, they do do it on adults, but it's very rare.
 
[00:40:57.820] - Candi Broeffle, Host
With the mouth is still growing, the baby is still growing. So the child is still growing versus as an adult when things are.
 
[00:41:07.870] - Dr. Agnes Schindler, Guest
Yeah. So that's why it's a lot more difficult to use it. And so one of the benefits of it. It's very like I said, lightweight and some pale expanders. You can get headaches. You can cause other problems because they're doing it so quickly. But they say, of course, one of the negative is it takes a long time, like a year and a half, two years to get results. But at the end, then you have usually a wider jaw and palette, and then it will help you, hopefully in future orthodotics where you don't have to pull teeth. And hopefully your breathing is better again, your airway is wider, you're getting more oxygen in.
 
[00:41:50.600] - Candi Broeffle, Host
So again, it's looking at it might take a little time to do it in the short term, but in the long term, the results are so beneficial.
 
[00:41:59.290] - Dr. Agnes Schindler, Guest
Yeah. You're affecting again, the whole body versus okay. We're just going to make your smile pretty. So we're looking at the patients that are interested and are looking. They're not doing it just for their teeth, but again, for the help of the whole body.
 
[00:42:13.880] - Candi Broeffle, Host
Your office is growing quite a bit. And I understand you're going to be expanding into a new office in 2020.
 
[00:42:21.070] - Dr. Agnes Schindler, Guest
Yes, we're very close to where you are about five minutes away. It's five minutes south, and it's a big building, and there's enough. One of the reasons why we're doing that is there's going to be more room to have more space to be able to have more
 
[00:42:39.160] - Candi Broeffle, Host
Integrative services.
 
[00:42:40.580] - Dr. Agnes Schindler, Guest
Integrative Services. Exactly.

[00:42:41.950] - Candi Broeffle, Host
Well, thank you so much for being with us today, Doctor Schindler, we really appreciate it. And to learn more, you can visit NaturalSmilesDental.Com or you can call 651-483-9800 to make an appointment to read the online addition of Natural Awakenings Magazine. Go to NaturalTwinCities.Com. Thank you for joining our conversation today. As we awaken to Natural Health, you've been listening to Green Tea conversations, and I'm wishing for you a lovely day.