There are few things harder than watching a new baby work so hard to feed. The early weeks are a season when a baby's body is still recovering from everything that pregnancy and birth asked of it, when feeding has not yet found its rhythm, and when families are often being asked to make decisions about surgery before anyone has had the chance to see what the baby can do with a little help first.
BabyLase was developed for exactly that season. A specific wavelength of invisible light is applied in a planned sequence to the mouth, face, head and neck. What a baby feels is mild warmth, and nothing more than that. Nothing is cut, nothing is numbed, and nothing about the therapy is permanent or irreversible. The therapy is offered from the newborn period through roughly twenty-four months, because infant feeding and swallowing patterns are genuinely different from those of an older child, and because the swallow continues to convert and mature until around a baby's second birthday.
BabyLase supports improvements in functional capacity, and does not claim to cure anything. It is intended to promote a more ideal environment for the body to heal itself.
The laser used for BabyLase delivers light at a wavelength the body does not see as light at all, but registers as a very slight warmth — a change of only a degree or two above the temperature the tissue already sits at. That gentle warmth is applied both inside the mouth and along the face, head and neck, following a sequence rather than a single spot.
Two things are happening at once. Warmth of this kind changes the behavior of the connective tissue and fascia beneath the surface, allowing tissue that has been holding tension to soften and lengthen. At the same time, the nerve endings in that region respond to the temperature change and send that signal inward to the brainstem. The way we describe it in training is that the laser supplies the signal and the baby's own nervous system supplies the power. This is our working model of why very small doses can be followed by visible changes within a single visit, and we present it as exactly that — a proposed mechanism that our published literature review and ongoing research are built to examine.
Responses vary a great deal from baby to baby. Some are immediate and obvious, and others are quieter and unfold over the following days. Every baby is different, and their responses are assessed together by the provider, the parents and the rest of the care team.
BabyLase was developed by Dr. Angie Tenholder, DMD, FAACP, DABCDSM, FAGD, founder of The Synergy Academy. She came to this work first as a mother who had nursing challenges with her own infant, and later as a grandmother helping the next generation navigate the same territory, and she has spent her career since supporting nursing mothers and the mothers who choose to bottle feed with equal conviction.
BabyLase began as an extrapolation of her adult and pediatric laser therapy work onto the infant population, and it became its own protocol because infants are not simply smaller children. Their feeding and swallowing patterns are different, the neurological demands of reflexive feeding sit at the center of the picture in a way they do not later on, and the swallow is still converting. Teaching this safely to other clinicians required its own curriculum, its own dosing, its own assessment and its own name.
Dr. Tenholder continues to teach BabyLase to providers around the world and to hold the training to the standard she would want for her own grandchildren.
Please use the following link for a list of dental providers who have received over 16 hours of didactic and clinical training to become Authentic BabyLase providers
Edison was born via c section after turning breech during labor. He was severely tongue tied and majorly struggling at the breast with feeding. He was officially diagnosed and revised on day 4 although clearly not being in a stable condition. He tanked and we ended up in the PICU for 5 days due to dehydration. During that time, he refused to do anything at the breast and developed a strong oral aversion. After being released from the hospital and not knowing how to get him back to breast we found Nicole (woot woot)!!! Unfortunately, at that time we did not have Babylase and it was a grueling 3 months of work before Edison was breastfeeding.
Byron was born after 23 hours of labor and 6 1/2 hours of pushing. He was born in the military position and had a brachial plexus injury. He could not coordinate his suck and swallow and was very disorganized and frustrated at the breast. We did Babylase with him several times and noticed him becoming more engaged and organized for short periods of time at the breast. It seemed to turn the lights on and help expedite things. It was still a long journey but seeing how it helped with his all over body tension, fussiness and tongue function was amazing.
Amelia had a much better labor and delivery and came out ready to eat! She was tongue tied but very determined. But she quickly tired at the breast, fed very frequently, had a shallow latch, was losing weight and causing me extreme nipple pain. We weren’t able to do the revision for several weeks but thankfully were able to do Babylase twice in the weeks prior to the revision. After Babylase she had very noticeable improvements. Her latch and tongue function were so much improved, and my nipple pain went away. She still fed frequently but became more effective with her tongue function and started gaining weight. She also was so much more relaxed and happy. We did her revision at 3 weeks old and she just took off from there and is a chunky nursing champ.
My infant daughter underwent multiple BabyLase treatments prior to her frenulectomy. I am certain this treatment plan prepared her body to be in an optimal state for the actual procedure. After the BabyLase appointments she was noticeably less tense and less fussy. Our breastfeeding journey improved significantly with the laser treatments alone. We could not be happier with our results and are truly grateful for Dr. Angie and Nicole.
"Well it's not even been a week and Little Miss Willow Dawn has quite the story already....She has been to the chiropractor 3 times due to intense labor and delivery thank you Dr. Matt Uchtman and Elevation Chiropractic. She saw the specialist Nicole Edwin at Synergy Dental yesterday in St. Louis who is phenomenal and I highly recommend! Today she had BabyLase and oral surgery with Dr. Angie Tenholder & Nicole for tongue tie and a few other issues causing some breastfeeding issues and excruciating pain for Momma with every single feed. We are happy to report that the surgery was a success we fed immediately following surgery and it was night and day difference... Momma is REAL HAPPY, to say the least. Now baby Willow can start gaining weight back and get out of these preemie clothes well because we only have 2 preemie outfits lol...Thank you to all who prayed for us during this time, God is Good! "
Every baby is different, and each family's experience is their own. These stories are shared in families' own words and are not a promise of any particular result.
Please contact us directly with any questions, comments, or scheduling inquiries you may have.
1000 Eleven South Suite 3F, Columbia, IL 62236, US
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