In your mouth, the “frenum” refers to a piece of soft tissue connected to the lips and gums. If the frenum is too short or too tight, it can interfere with breastfeeding, swallowing or speech development. A dental frenectomy cuts or modifies the frenum, and is a common procedure, especially during the infant stage of life.

Lingual frenectomy

The lingual frenum connects your tongue to your mouth. If you touch your tongue to the roof of your mouth, you can probably feel the lingual frenum stretching underneath your tongue.

The length of the lingual frenum varies from person to person. In some cases, people are born with a lingual frenum that’s very short which restricts the movement of the tongue. Commonly referred to as “tongue tie”, children with a very short lingual frenum may experience:

trouble breastfeeding, leading to poor weight gain

speech issues, particularly with articulating the sounds for l, r, t, d, n, z, and th.

difficulties eating certain foods, such as licking an ice cream cone

problems with underbite, due to pressure on the jaw from the tongue being situated at a lower level

obstructive sleep apnea, possibly due to changes in facial development as well as increased mouth breathing

A quick procedure called a lingual frenectomy can give the tongue a greater range of motion.

Maxillary frenectomy

The labial frenum connects your top lip to the gum area right above your front teeth. If this frenum is shorter than average, it can cause difficulty in speech development. This condition is a type of lip adhesion which can also pose a problem with dental development and make it hard to fully clean the gums and front teeth. This raises the risk of gum disease and other dental complications. A maxillary frenectomy can give the upper lip more mobility.