{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,17]],"date-time":"2026-09-17T02:13:56Z","timestamp":1789611236832,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":49,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"11","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,6,6]],"date-time":"2021-06-06T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1622937600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJERPH"],"abstract":"<jats:p>This randomized, double-blind and controlled clinical trial investigates how a diode laser lingual frenectomy can improve obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) in pediatric patients. Background: Several authors have shown that a short lingual frenulum causes a reduction in incoming air flow and the relationship between OSAS and a short lingual frenulum. Methods: Thirty-two pediatric patients were equally randomly divided into a Study Group (SG) and a Control Group (CG). On each SG patient a polysomnography 1 (PSG1) and a lingual frenectomy were performed using a diode laser via Doctor Smile Wiser technology, power 7 W. After three months, a new polysomnography (PSG2) was performed to evaluate the lingual frenectomy efficacy in pediatric patients. The pain was assessed by a numerical rating scale (NRS) before and after surgery. The CG followed the same protocol without a lingual frenectomy but myofunctional and speech therapy were conducted to qualitatively and quantitatively improve the lingual functionality. In the SG, eight subjects (50%) had severe OSAS and eight had moderate (50%) while in the CG, three subjects had severe OSAS (18.8%) and thirteen had moderate (81.2%). Results: In the SG, 93.8% were classified as mild OSAS and 6.2% as moderate. In contrast, in the CG, 18.75% were classified as mild OSAS, 62.5% as moderate and 18.75% as severe. Conclusion: The study demonstrates how a lingual laser frenectomy can improve OSAS in pediatric patients.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph18116112","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,6,6]],"date-time":"2021-06-06T23:59:55Z","timestamp":1623023995000},"page":"6112","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":33,"title":["The Efficacy of Lingual Laser Frenectomy in Pediatric OSAS: A Randomized Double-Blinded and Controlled Clinical Study"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"18","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2041-2075","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Miriam","family":"Fioravanti","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Oral and Maxillo-Facial Sciences, Sapienza University of Rome, 00161 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6561-3487","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Francesca","family":"Zara","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Oral and Maxillo-Facial Sciences, Sapienza University of Rome, 00161 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8545-9889","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Iole","family":"Vozza","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Oral and Maxillo-Facial Sciences, Sapienza University of Rome, 00161 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2679-7607","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Antonella","family":"Polimeni","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Oral and Maxillo-Facial Sciences, Sapienza University of Rome, 00161 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Gian Luca","family":"Sfasciotti","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Oral and Maxillo-Facial Sciences, Sapienza University of Rome, 00161 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,6,6]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e714","DOI":"10.1542\/peds.2012-1672","article-title":"American Academy of Pediatrics. 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