Lip-tie is the everyday name for a tighter-than-average band of tissue connecting the upper lip to the gum.

In kid words

"Feel that little piece of skin connecting your top lip to your gum? For some kids, that piece is a bit snugger than most, and that's called a lip-tie." It doesn't hurt, and it isn't something you did. Plenty of kids have one and never think about it again.

The parent version

Lip-tie is the everyday name for a labial frenulum, the stretchy tissue anchoring the upper lip to the gum, when it sits tighter or thicker than average. Mainstream sources describe it as a spectrum rather than a yes-or-no condition, and plenty of children with a snugger lip-tie never experience any effect from it at all.

When it does draw attention, it's sometimes noticed during infant feeding, and other times noticed later, like a gap between the front teeth or a lip that doesn't flip up easily. Often no action is needed at all. Whether a particular lip-tie is worth a closer look, and what that would even mean, is entirely a conversation for your pediatric dentist rather than something to size up from a mirror at home.

Where you might hear it at our office

Lip-tie is worth mentioning at a visit, and a routine cleaning and exam is a natural place to bring it up, since our team checks the soft tissue around the mouth as part of every comprehensive exam. Mentioning it doesn't commit you to anything. It simply gives your pediatric dentist the chance to take a look and talk through whether it's relevant for your child at all.

Another word from a recent visit still nagging at you? The rest of the Kids' Dental Dictionary is right here.

Related words

Frenulum. Frenectomy. Gum line.