# lip tie / attached upper lip frenulum



## born2bamum

Hi everybody I wonder if you could help me in a matter I have regarding my daughter who is sixteen months old. I noticed only yesterday that she has a large and rather thick piece of skin coming between her two front teeth and Is attached to her top lip. you may think I should have noticed this before, but even tho I often look in her mouth I must have missed this, and boy, do I feel awful! I now need to think about how I go further with this. we are currently in the process of sorting private family healthcare as a bonus through my husbands work, so do I wait for this (could be up to a month before we could start her cover and are able to process a claim) so we can have the skin lasered and stop any complications that the lip tie can cause ie gap in teeth and problems with speech etc or go to our gp on Monday and see what he says. most say just to leave it and repair the gap with braces later on.

does anybody have any experience with this condition, and what do you think I should do. I just want to do the best for my daughter.



Thankyou


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## kmac625

Clara has this and both her pediatrician and my dentist have told me that unless it's causing some obvious issues (like with nursing/taking a bottle or speech delays) they wait until the baby teeth have fallen out and the adult teeth are coming in to see if there is an issue. Often times a child with this will fall at some point and hit their mouth and it will tear/cut on it's own (ouch!). If you haven't noticed it until now, odds are your lo is fine and I would just mention it when you do take her to the doctor next time.


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## Mum2b_Claire

Ruby has this and all I know about it is the above! We only noticed it recently and explains why she couldn't latch on to BF.


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## Eala

Roo has this as well, and like Claire, I only learned about it recently. Again, I think it has a lot to do with the awful latch issues we had. I find it amazing that tongue tie is mentioned so often, but this just isn't heard of? I believe it's called a maxillary frenulum tie (or something like that), but don't quote me on the exact words :blush:

I'm almost certain that I had it when I was a child too. I always had a gap between my front teeth. Although it has receded somewhat (in that it doesn't attach to my gum between my teeth anymore), I do still have a much more attached/lower frenulum than (for example) my husband.

It's something I'll be looking out for with this next baby, and I'll be asking the HV and dentist about it for Roo when she next goes.


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## Mum2b_Claire

Yeah, I'm going to seek out some advice when I'm in my 3rd trimester I think, as to what can be done if LO as the same issue. I'm so hoping not though! Ruby couldn't latch at all.


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## pachamama

My lo has this too. Also caused latching issues. He also had a posterior tongue tie - I wonder if they're related and whether it's also worth checking for in a newborn?

Sorry if a bit off topic.

x


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## kmac625

I guess I'm lucky that it didn't interfere with Clara's ability to latch. I didn't notice it with Clara until she had her top teeth, so around 6 months or so old.


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## NIfirsttimer

Ruby has a super well attached upper lip frenulum, and also couldnt latch! she was checked for tongue tie lots but never that, and i ended up pumping for a year as a result!

my dentist confirmed that they just leave it until they are around 12, and its dealt with at that point if any ortho work is being done. interestingly, i also had this, couldnt latch, and had mine cut at 12!!!


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## bky

Lip tie and posterior tongue tie are linked, in fact that's one of the more visible ways to check for PTT. 
If it's not causing issues with front teeth I wouldn't worry about it for now. it's unlikely to cause speech issues. If it does cause a front tooth gap your best bet is to try and have it dealt with before adult teeth come in-having it done then is likely to be much cheaper than braces! A laser dentist should be able to sort you out for that.
Mine has an upper lip tie and I was worried it was going to give her a tooth gap, but it didn't, so, at some point when she's older I'll have her posterior tongue tie corrected (as mine causes me to suck air into my stomach resulting in gas).
This is an excellent website
https://www.kiddsteeth.com/dental_topics.html
And a slideshow on lip tie:
https://www.kiddsteeth.com/articles/Maxillary Frenectomy2006adobenews.pdf


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## kmac625

Hmmm that's interesting bky because Clara does have a gap between her front two teeth and I've been told that they leave it until the adult teeth come in. I guess unless I change pediatricians or dentists, that's what I'm going to have to live with and hope she won't need braces.


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## NIfirsttimer

yeah, Ruby also has a gap!


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## hivechild

Ronan has one too and even though we manage(d) to nurse successfully, we had a rough time and some painful latching issues that occasionally still crop up because of it.

The dentist identified it for me when he was about 11 months old but as above, said that they generally don't do anything about it until their adult teeth are coming in if there is no immediate concerns.

He has fallen and torn it once, but it seems like it just healed up still attached strangely. :shrug:


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## Seraphim

I didn't find out about this until much later, but until reading this I had no idea it could affect the gap in the front teeth. She still has a gap, although it does appear to be closing.

H's isn't as attached as those between-the-teeth photos, but when I did find out I wondered if it was the cause of all that air she takes in when feeding :dohh:

Her dada has one and I have a flap which appears to be the remains of one.


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## AlwaysPraying

My son has one on his upper lip / gums. About a month ago he was crawling with a block in his mouth and fell. He bled everywhere and later I noticed a flap where t used to be tied! I'm not sure how it will heal over time but I'm kind of happy this got sorted out the way it has.


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## hattiehippo

Tom has this too...we really struggle to clean his front 2 teeth at the top becuase the tie comes out between them so you can't pull his lip back from them to get a toothbrush in. He also has a gap and really struggled to latch on even with shields so was FF.

You'd think this would be checked for as its looking quite common or maybe its difficult to see until the top teeth grow in?


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## DaisyBee

Megan has this as well. I just noticed it a few months ago. She has always pulled away when I'm messing with her upper mouth and I think this is why... And also why I didnt notice sooner.

Her dr says not to worry about it and no issue. But she does have a gap between her teeth. I am going to bring her to a dentist and ask. I would prefer it to be lasered now vs braces later. Also the thought of it ripping and bleeding all over!! Doesnt sound pleasant to either Megan or my carpeting! ouch!


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## Scally

Oh my god, Izzy has this and i thought it was normal! She has a gap in her front teeth and the skin goes through to the back of her teeth, we noticed it a couple of months ago when she fell on her mouth and it all swelled, we thought the skin was stuck through the gap, but then realised it was supposed to be there. Oh god i feel so bad i thought it was normal


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## AlwaysPraying

It is normal! It's not a terrible thing, lots of people have it. It can cause issues in speech development if severe enough. But generally, it's not a bad thing. Don't worry!


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## Scally

Thank you, I really panicked last night when i came on, i said to my OH it sounds like what Izzy has in her mouth, and then after looking at the posted links i realised that not all children had it! It hasn't affected her much i don't think, her speech is ok although i think the pronunciation of some words are different, maybe because of the lip? she was fine latching etc.


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## AlwaysPraying

Parenthood is such a worry hey! I would think that being almost 2 and speaking already is a HUGE sign that all is totally normal! Honestly, the issue comes up more when there is a speech issue, or a latching issue FIRST, and then they check for the tie to see if that could be the reason.


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