How to Pronounce Frenectomy
Definition, meaning, and phonetic spelling
Frenectomy Pronunciation
freh-NEK-toh-mee
Stressed syllable in ALL CAPS · hyphens separate syllables
Syllable Breakdown
freh
NEK
stress here
toh
mee
4 syllables
What is Frenectomy?
A minor surgical procedure that removes or loosens the frenum, the small fold of tissue connecting the lip or tongue to the gum or floor of the mouth. It is often performed to correct tongue-tie or a high labial frenum that causes a gap between front teeth.
Questions About Frenectomy
How do you pronounce frenectomy?
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Frenectomy is pronounced freh-NEK-toh-mee. The stress falls on the second syllable, which rhymes with "neck." Think of it as saying "freh" (like the start of "fresh"), then "NEK" (like "neck"), then "toh-mee" (like "toe" + "me").
What are the syllables in frenectomy?
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Frenectomy breaks into four syllables: fre-NEK-to-my. It's helpful to say each part separately first, then connect them smoothly together.
Which syllable is stressed in frenectomy?
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The second syllable, NEK, gets the stress and should be said louder and longer than the others. A common mistake is stressing the first syllable (FREN-ectomy), but that's incorrect.
What do the word parts in frenectomy mean?
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Frenectomy comes from two Latin roots: "frenum" means the small fold of tissue connecting parts of the mouth, and "-ectomy" means surgical removal. So frenectomy literally means "removal of the frenum."
What is the frenum that frenectomy refers to?
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The frenum is the small fold of tissue that connects your lip or tongue to your gums or the floor of your mouth. It's a normal part of your mouth anatomy, and the word frenectomy includes the name of this structure.
What does frenectomy mean in plain English?
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Frenectomy is a dental term for a procedure that removes or loosens the small tissue fold in the mouth. If you hear this word, you can think of it simply as "frenum removal" or "frenum surgery."
Are there related words that use the same root as frenectomy?
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Yes! Other words with "-ectomy" at the end include appendectomy (removal of the appendix) and tonsillectomy (removal of the tonsils). All of these words follow the same pattern: the name of the body part + "-ectomy" for removal.
How would you use frenectomy in a sentence?
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You might hear it in a sentence like: "The dentist explained that the patient was a candidate for a frenectomy." This simply means the dentist was discussing whether a frenum removal procedure might be appropriate.