Infant Feeding Solutions
Tongue-Tie Clinic
Because of Dr. Holman’s passion for helping mothers and infants with breastfeeding issues, she has brought together a highly qualified team of professionals. In addition to her oral health expertise, we have a lactation consultant and an infant bodyworker/massage therapist to diagnose and provide solutions. All appointments are one-on-one with our practitioners and your privacy is respected.
Helping Infants
An infant’s struggle with breastfeeding can often be solved by a lactation consultant or bodyworker helping with posture and latching. However, there are cases when a baby’s lip or tongue are tethered in a way that makes nursing painful or ineffective. In these instances, a release (Frenectomy) of their lip or tongue attachment (frenum) may be necessary.
Helping Mothers
A frenectomy can help mothers relieve the pain of breastfeeding and regain healthy nipples and breasts, stimulate milk production by adequate stimulation, encourage bonding with her baby, and ensure adequate feeding and growth of the baby.
Laser Treatment
All frenectomy procedures are completed using the precision LightScalpel CO2 laser. This laser does not emit heat or water and cauterizes as it works. As a result, there is minimal trauma, bleeding, and scar tissue.
Meet Our Team
Shaina Holman, DDS, PhD
As a mom of two breastfed children as well as a highly-trained oral health and breastfeeding clinician, Dr. Holman is dedicated to helping moms experience the joys of breastfeeding. While completing her Bachelor of Science degree in Biological Anthropology and Anatomy at Duke University, she wrote her honors thesis on the links between dental anatomy, feeding function, and diet. She went on to write her post-graduate dissertation on the role of oral sensory information during infant suckling while completing her D.D.S. and Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences at the University of Maryland. She has published over a dozen peer reviewed papers in top journals related to dysphagia and suckling physiology.
Dr. Holman’s Education in Airway/Tongue Ties/Myofunctional Therapy
- 2020 UNC Dental Sleep Medicine Mini-Residency
- Frenectomies & Beyond: A Modern Approach to Laser Education that Challenges Traditional Methods Addressing Ankyloglossia and Tethered Oral Tissues, with Karen Wuertz, DDS, COM
- Tethered Oral Tissues Specialty Training, with Autumn Henning, MS, CCC-SLP, QOM, DABLS
- Orofacial Myology: From Basics to Habituation, with Sandra Hotzman, MS, CCC-SLP, COM, QOM
- Functional Sleep and Breathing/Frenuloplasty, with Dr. Soroush Zaghi
- Sleep Apnea 101- Implementation, with Dr. Erin Elliott
Maria Ellis, RN, BSN, IBCLC
Maria is a registered nurse and lactation consultant. After completing her undergraduate studies in Spanish and Political Science from the College of Charleston, she joined the Peace Corps serving as a rural health volunteer in El Salvador and Ecuador. After returning to the states, she and her husband moved to Chapel Hill where she earned her bachelor’s degree in nursing at UNC. She has worked in maternal-child health for over 10 years in a variety of in-patient settings including, labor and delivery, postpartum, NICU, as well as providing nursing and lactation support for many years at the Women’s Birth and Wellness Center in Chapel Hill. She is currently a clinical instructor at Duke’s school of nursing where she is thrilled to be helping to train the next generation of nurses. She lives in Durham with her husband and three children.
Emily Moody, RN, BSN, IBCLC
Emily is a registered nurse and lactation consultant. After graduating from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a Bachelor's of Science in Nursing, she has found over the years that her greatest joys professionally are found in empowering and supporting women through their unique pregnancy and infant feeding journeys. She values the opportunity to provide lactation guidance and support that is both goal-driven and holistically sustainable. She has worked in maternal-child health for over 8 years in a variety of settings including the inpatient settings of labor and delivery, mother/baby, and NICU and in an out-of-hospital setting at the Women's Birth and Wellness Center as a labor and home visit nurse providing nursing and lactation support. She is currently an in-patient nurse at UNC Health where she works a flexible assignment in medical, surgical, women's and/or NICU in-patient settings. She lives in Durham with her husband and two children.
Wanda Sundermann, LMBT, ICCE, ICD
Wanda Sundermann LMBT, ICCE, ICD is a licensed massage therapist with additional training in Craniosacral therapy, specializing in Craniosacral therapy for infants. Wanda has worked for over thirty years with new mothers and babies as a doula, childbirth educator, and bodyworker.
Jonathan groger, lmbt
Jonathan Groger, LMBT is a licensed massage & bodywork therapist with additional training in functional bowen specific to tongue tie and pediatrics. Jonathan has worked for over ten years as a bodyworker in an array of medical, therapeutic, and sports-related settings. When he’s not massaging, Jonathan enjoys writing songs, lifting weights, and working on jigsaw puzzles.
Clinic Information
Our clinic is run on Mondays or as needed. For questions about the clinic, billing and scheduling please call us during business hours. Patients must be under the age of 1 and must have a vitamin K shot. It is preferred that patients are referred after working with a lactation consultant and/or body worker first. Paperwork should be filled out before the appointment to make things as smooth as possible when you arrive.
we can't wait to meet you
We invite you to experience Holman Family Dental Care. Call today or click below to set up your first visit.
(919) 932-7811
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