The Ultimate Guide to Labret Piercings

Labret piercings are located directly under the center of your lower lip. They're decorated with stud jewelry (not a ring); otherwise, it would just be called a lip piercing. Because it pierces the lip horizontally front to back, it's both a facial and oral piercing, meaning you have to care for it two different ways.

Lowbrets and Labrets

Lowbrets are just like labret piercings, but they rest lower down the chin, being pierced just above the connective tissue that attaches your lower lip to the bottom of your gum line. A lowbret can be centered like a labret or can be pierced two or three times along this lower gum line. It can be pierced horizontally so that the jewelry protrudes directly out from the source, or it can be angled downward so that a long spike can be worn.

Special Considerations

Whether you get a labret or lowbret, you're running a risk of damage to your teeth, gums or both. The flat disk on the back of the labret stud jewelry can rub against the surface of your gums and, depending on the placement, even scratch your teeth.

For those who have an oral fixation (meaning you can't resist the urge to play with a foreign item in your mouth) this isn't a good piercing option. It's the constant playing and manipulating of the jewelry that seems to cause most damage rather than the simple existence of the piercing. If you can leave it alone, it probably won't cause you much trouble.

It's just important to keep a constant close eye on it and remove the piercing immediately if you start seeing signs of damage. Tooth enamel erosion can lead to sensitivity and decay. Gum recession causes the roots of your teeth to be exposed, which is very painful. Allowing a piercing to continue damaging your teeth and/or gums could lead to a serious and irreversible problem.

Starter jewelry should be a 16 or 14 gauge labret stud. There are typically two different disc sizes, so if one size causes problems you can try going smaller or larger and see if that solves the issue.