title: Variations in the frenal morphology in the diverse population: A clinical study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The upper labial frenum is a normal anatomic structure with inherent morphological variations. Frenum has variations depending upon the attachment of fibers along with the presence of structural variations.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of frenal variations in a diverse ethnic population of Sundernagar, Himachal Pradesh.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study was conducted on 500 subjects within age group of 16-40 years (285 females, 215 males). Intraoral examination was done to evaluate the variations in frenum and photographs were taken.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In this study, depending upon structural variations, normal frenum was most common followed by frenum with nodule while frenum with appendix was found to be least common. However, no significant difference was found between males and females (P > 0.05) with respect to all frenal attachments. Furthermore, other structural variations were found in the diverse population of Sundernagar, Himachal Pradesh.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Upper labial frenum is a small anatomical landmark in the oral cavity found to have diverse morphology. The dentist needs to give due importance for frenum assessment during the oral examination.
authors: Department of Periodontology and Implantology, Himachal Dental College, Sundernagar, Himachal Pradesh, India.
authors: Vikas
authors: V
authors: Jindal
authors: Department of Periodontology and Implantology, Himachal Dental College, Sundernagar, Himachal Pradesh, India.
authors: Rupinder
authors: R
authors: Kaur
authors: Department of Periodontology and Implantology, Himachal Dental College, Sundernagar, Himachal Pradesh, India.
authors: Amit
authors: A
authors: Goel
authors: Department of Periodontology and Implantology, Himachal Dental College, Sundernagar, Himachal Pradesh, India.
authors: Atika
authors: A
authors: Mahajan
authors: Department of Periodontology and Implantology, Himachal Dental College, Sundernagar, Himachal Pradesh, India.
authors: Neha
authors: N
authors: Mahajan
authors: Department of Periodontology and Implantology, Himachal Dental College, Sundernagar, Himachal Pradesh, India.
authors: Atin
authors: A
authors: Mahajan
keywords: Frenal attachment; frenum; papillary penetrating