Upper lip tie wrapping into the hard palate and anterior premaxilla causing alveolar hypoplasia

Abstract

Bony anomaly caused by lip tie is not many reported yet. There was a case of upper lip tie wrapping into the anterior premaxilla. We represent a case of severe upper lip tie of limited lip motion, upper lips curling inside, and alveolar hypoplasia. Male patient was born on June 3, 2016. He had a deep philtral sulcus, low vermilion border and deep cupid’s bow of upper lip due to tension of short, stout and very tight frenulum. His upper lip motion was severely restricted in particular lip eversion. There was anterior alveolar hypoplasia with deep sulcus in anterior maxilla. Resection of frenulum cord with Z-plasty was performed at anterior premaxilla and upper lip sulcus. Frenulum was tightly attached to gingiva through gum and into hard palate. Width of frenulum cord was about 1 cm, and length was about 3 cm. He gained upper lip contour including cupid’s bow and normal vermilion border after the surgery. This case is severe upper lip tie showing the premaxillary hypoplasia, abnormal lip motion and contour for child. Although there is mild limitation of feeding with upper lip tie child, early detection and treatment are needed to correct bony growth.