Surface Electromyographic Analysis of the Suprahyoid Muscles in Infants Based on Lingual Frenulum Attachment during Breastfeeding

Ellia Christinne Lima França, Lucas Carvalho Aragão Albuquerque, Roberta Lopes de Castro Martinelli, Ilda Machado Fiuza Gonçalves, Cejana Baiocchi Souza and Maria Alves Barbosa
Additional contact information
Ellia Christinne Lima França: Medical School, Graduate Programme in Health Sciences, Federal University of Goiás, Goiânia, Goiás 38177, Brazil
Lucas Carvalho Aragão Albuquerque: Department of Neuropsychiatry, Federal University of Pernambuco, Recife, Pernambuco 38318, Brazil
Roberta Lopes de Castro Martinelli: Dental School, University of São Paulo, Bauru, São Paulo 223581, Brazil
Ilda Machado Fiuza Gonçalves: Dental School, Federal University of Goiás, Goiânia, Goiás 38177, Brazil
Cejana Baiocchi Souza: Course Phonoaudiology, Pontifical Catholic University of Goiás, Goiânia, Goiás 38177, Brazil
Maria Alves Barbosa: Medical School, Graduate Programme in Health Sciences, Federal University of Goiás, Goiânia, Goiás 38177, Brazil

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 3, 1-12

Abstract: Muscle electrical activity analysis can aid in the identification of oral motor dysfunctions, such as those resulting from an altered lingual frenulum, which consequently impairs feeding. Here, we aim to analyze the suprahyoid muscle electrical activity of infants via surface electromyography, based on lingual frenulum attachment to the sublingual aspect of the tongue and floor of the mouth during breastfeeding. In the present study, we have studied full-term infants of both genders, aged between 1 and 4 months old. The mean muscle activities were recorded in microvolts and converted into percent values of the reference value. Associations between the root mean square and independent variables were tested by one-way analysis of variance and Student’s t-test, with a significance level of 5% and test power of 95%, respectively. We evaluated 235 infants. Lower mean muscle electrical activity was observed with the lingual frenulum attached to apex/lower alveolar ridge, followed by attachment to the middle third/lower alveolar ridge, and between the middle third and apex/lower alveolar ridge. Greater suprahyoid muscle activity was observed with lingual frenulum attachment to the middle third of the tongue/sublingual caruncles, showing a coordination between swallowing, sucking, and breathing. Surface electromyography is effective in diagnosing lingual frenulum alterations, the attachment points of which raises doubt concerning the restriction of tongue mobility. Thus, it is possible to identify oral motor dysfunctions.

Keywords: lingual frenulum; tongue tie; electromyography; suprahyoid muscles; breastfeeding (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/3/859/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/3/859/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:3:p:859-:d:314367

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().