Tongue-Ties in Babies: Seeing the Forest for the Trees as a Healthcare Provider
With great enthusiasm, we are organizing this training for healthcare providers for the sixth time, fully aligned with the new Flemish (Belgium) guideline from the Agency for Growing Up, to be published in 2025.
For the first time, we will be teaching this course in English, hoping to welcome international colleagues!
🔹 When is a tongue-tie considered restrictive?
🔹 Does it always require treatment?
🔹 How can we maintain a broader perspective?
Increasing research highlights the importance of the lingual frenulum. Unfortunately, education on this topic remains limited, and there is little consensus among pediatric healthcare professionals regarding its diagnosis and treatment. In 2025, the Agency for Growing Up will publish the official Flemish consensus following discussions with a multidisciplinary working group.
Emilie, a member of this working group, will guide you through the latest insights and help you prepare for proper implementation in clinical practice.
Why this training?
After five successful editions, we’re pleased to offer this training day once more, tailored specifically for healthcare providers. In previous sessions, we welcomed midwives, nurses, lactation consultants, physical therapists, osteopaths, chiropractors, and general practitioners.
Our goal? To provide a broad, evidence-based perspective, enabling pediatric care providers to better support babies with a potentially restrictive tongue-tie, while also distinguishing between functional and anatomical issues—helping to avoid unnecessary procedures.
During this training, Emilie shares her knowledge and clinical experience, supported by the most up-to-date scientific literature. The training includes both theoretical and practical components.
⚠ Important: This course does not teach you how to cut, laser, or otherwise treat a tongue-tie. This remains the domain of physicians and dentists.
Instructor
🧑⚕ Emilie Claerbout – Chiropractor & IBCLC Lactation Consultant (Samen Groeien, Kortrijk) With support from Lien Verdickt, IBCLC Lactation Consultant (Groei!, Gent)
Topics Covered
✅ Oral and tongue function in babies: what’s normal, and how do you recognize problems?
✅ Is it a restrictive tongue-tie or something else? Differential diagnosis and other causes of reduced oral function.
✅ Short- and long-term consequences of a restrictive tongue-tie.
✅ Oral assessment and suck pattern: how to perform a proper evaluation.
✅ Treatment: when and how to refer.
✅ Pre- and post-procedure guidance.
✅ The role of supportive therapies and multidisciplinary collaboration.
Who is this training for?
✔ Midwives & pediatric nurses
✔ Chiropractors & osteopaths
✔ General practitioners, pediatricians, ENT specialists
✔ Pre-speech language therapists
✔ Lactation consultants
Hands-On Experience
We aim to welcome a few LIVE baby cases during the training day (with and without restrictive tongue-ties, before and after frenectomy), together with their parents. This offers participants the chance to practice real-life clinical skills.
Practical Information
📌 Included: Beverages, snacks, and sandwich lunch.
📖 Course materials: You’ll receive both a printed and digital handbook with practical templates for history-taking and clinical assessment.
📜 Accreditation: IBCLCs CERPs accreditation pending
⚠ Note: No reimbursement via the KMO-portefeuille due to high accreditation costs.
🚗 Location: Free parking available. Nearest hotel is D-hotel Marke. Public transport: take the train to station Kortrijk, then the bus to busstop ‘Carlton’.