Frenectomy is the word for a procedure that loosens a tight frenulum.

In kid words

"A frenectomy is when a doctor gently loosens a tiny, stretchy piece of skin under your tongue or lip so it can move more easily." That's really the whole idea. Not every kid has one, and it's always something grown-ups decide together, never a surprise sprung on you at a visit.

The parent version

Frenectomy is the name for a minor procedure that releases or loosens a frenulum, a small band of tissue inside the mouth. One connects the tongue to the floor of the mouth, and another connects the upper lip to the gum above the front teeth. When one of these bands sits tighter than usual, it's sometimes described as tongue-tie or lip-tie, words many parents first hear from a pediatrician or a lactation consultant in a baby's earliest weeks.

Not every tight frenulum causes a problem, and how much one matters varies quite a bit from child to child, so it isn't something to sort out from a quick look at home. If a tight frenulum has ever been mentioned for your child, or you're simply wondering about it, that's worth raising at a checkup rather than guessing on your own. Whether it's relevant for your child is a question for your pediatric dentist.

Where you might hear it at our office

This word tends to surface early, sometimes in the newborn weeks, when a pediatrician or a lactation consultant first mentions tongue-tie or lip-tie around feeding, well before a first dental visit is even on the calendar. If it's still on your mind by the time your child sees us, that's a fair question to bring along to an early exam like the ones described on our infant dental care page, where your pediatric dentist can look at your child's mouth and talk it through with you directly.

Whether a frenectomy fits your child, and where it would happen, stays entirely a conversation with your pediatric dentist. If another word from a visit is still a mystery, the rest of the dictionary is right here.

Related words

Words that often come up alongside frenectomy: frenulum, tongue-tie, lip-tie.