Comparison Between Two Protocols for Ankyloglossia Diagnosis in Newborn Babies

Purpose: Ankyloglossia is a congenital anomaly that restricts tongue movements and can interfere in breastfeeding. The purpose of this study was to compare two protocols for ankyloglossia diagnosis: (1) the Neonatal Tongue Screening Test (NTST); and (2) the Bristol Tongue Assessment Tool (BTAT). Methods: This was a cohort study involving live births at the University Hospital of Brasilia, Brasilia, Brazil, from August 2017 to July 2018. The gathered data were based on clinical examinations and interviews with mothers. The Stata software program was applied to conduct the analyses using the chi-square test, Spearman's correlation and the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, and sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values. Results: A total of 972 mother-baby dyads were evaluated. The protocols showed agreement (P ≤ 0.001) for an ankyloglossia diagnosis, according to Spearman's correlation. The prevalence of ankyloglossia was 5.5 percent (NTST) and 5.1 percent (BTAT) and was greater in the male gender in both protocols. According to the ROC curve, the four cutoff point showed better sensitivity and specificity (98.4 percent and 64.2 percent, respectively). The BTAT was highly accurate in comparison with the NTST. Conclusions: Both protocols showed similar low ankyloglossia prevalence. The Bristol Tongue Assessment Tool protocol is potentially more viable as a screening instrument than the Neonatal Tongue Screening Test protocol because it is simpler and more concise.