HI
    My two cents on labial frenulums, I had a HUGE one and my mother reports
she stopped bfing me at 6 days bc she was so bloody and raw that I was
vomiting blood after feeds-- wonder if there is a connection?
    I had mine removed whilst going through braces when I was about 12 or
13... I had a full 1/4 inch gap between my front teeth and wouldn't smile bc
I hated it so much (runs in my mother's family).  The surgery, by an oral
surgeon in his office, was more than a clipping, it was a full removal from
above the lip line through to the roof of my mouth -- lovely, but healed
quickly with minimal pain.
    I also have never needed a retainer to keep the orthodontia work perfect
all these years. My mother, on the other hand who had orthodontia, but not
the frenectomy, has a gap again that began to grow in her thirties...
        My second boy has the distint ridge also... though it never once
caused us any problems, soreness or lip blister wise -- it's big enough that
it was a few millimeters below the gum line and now is about half the length
of his front teeth -- the difference being that it's not thick on the labial
aspect, it's thick on the gumline so he has free lip movement....
Anne E. Robb, MAT, LLLL
Off on a Tanget, Oregon, USA
mailto:[log in to unmask]