Inclusion and exclusion criteria.
| Inclusion criteria | Exclusion criteria |
|---|---|
| Studies published in peer-reviewed journals between years 2015 and 2025 | Articles not published in English |
| RCTs, CCTs, cohort studies, case series, and case reports | Narrative reviews, editorials, letters, conference abstracts |
| Studies involving children, adolescents, or adults diagnosed with ankyloglossia or reduced lingual mobility | Studies involving syndromic patients, craniofacial syndromes, or cleft lip/palate |
| Evaluation of lingual frenotomy/frenuloplasty, oral or OMT, or combined interventions | Studies not involving surgical or myofunctional interventions |
| Reported oral functional outcomes, including tongue mobility, tongue strength, resting tongue posture, swallowing-related tasks, oral motor coordination, or muscle activity (e.g., sEMG) | Animal studies, in vitro studies, or purely biomechanical modeling |
RCTs: randomized controlled trials; CCTs: controlled clinical trials; OMT: orofacial myofunctional therapy; sEMG: surface electromyography.
During the preparation of this work, the authors used AI-assisted technologies for language editing and improvement of text clarity. After using these tools, the authors carefully reviewed and edited the content as needed and take full responsibility for the accuracy, originality, and integrity of the final manuscript.
AMI: Conceptualization, Methodology, Validation, Formal analysis, Resources, Data curation, Writing—original draft, Writing—review & editing, Visualization, Project administration. GM: Methodology, Formal analysis, Visualization, Supervision, Project administration. LPZ: Conceptualization, Validation, Formal analysis, Data curation, Writing—original draft, Supervision. SS: Conceptualization, Methodology, Validation, Formal analysis, Resources, Writing—original draft, Writing—review & editing, Visualization, Supervision. FI: Conceptualization, Methodology, Validation, Formal analysis, Data curation, Writing—original draft, Writing—review & editing, Visualization, Supervision, Project administration. DVD: Methodology, Validation, Visualization, Supervision. GI: Methodology, Formal analysis, Supervision, Project administration. AP: Conceptualization, Methodology, Validation, Resources, Data curation, Writing—original draft, Writing—review & editing, Visualization, Supervision. GD: Conceptualization, Methodology, Software, Validation, Formal analysis, Resources, Data curation, Writing—original draft, Writing—review & editing, Visualization, Project administration. ADI: Conceptualization, Methodology, Software, Formal analysis, Writing—original draft, Writing—review & editing. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
Gaetano Isola, who is the Associate Editor of Exploration of Medicine, had no involvement in the decision-making or the review process of this manuscript. The other authors declare no conflicts of interest.
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The primary data for this systematic review were sourced online from databases listed in the methods. Referenced articles are accessible on PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science. Additional supporting data are available from the corresponding author upon request.
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