Labret Piercings, Standard and Vertical
A labret sits centred below the lower lip. There are two variations: a traditional labret, and a vertical labret.
A standard labret passes straight through, from the outside in, with a flat disc resting inside the mouth against the gum below your front teeth.
A vertical labret passes up through the lip itself, entering on the front and exiting on the top edge, so both ends of a curved bar are visible on the outside and nothing sits inside your mouth at all.
That second one is the piercing a lot of people actually want and never hear about. It gives a similar look from the front, with none of the long term dental considerations that come from having hardware against your gum. If the inside-the-mouth part is what has been putting you off, read the vertical section below before deciding against the look entirely.
The Standard Labret
The most common lip piercing there is, and a good first facial piercing for three reasons.
It sits in soft tissue rather than cartilage, so it heals faster and more comfortably than anything on the ear, where the poor blood supply makes every piercing slow.
It has a natural centre line to work from. Placement is more forgiving than a philtrum, because the lower lip gives a piercer a clear landmark and slightly more tolerance.
It suits most anatomy. Unlike a rook, a snug or a navel, where a piercer regularly has to say no, there is rarely a structural reason somebody cannot have a standard labret.
Variations Worth Knowing
A side labret sits off centre rather than in the middle.
A vertical labret passes up through the lip itself, entering on the front and exiting on the top edge, so both ends of a curved bar are visible on the outside and nothing sits inside your mouth at all.
A pair either side is called snake bites.
Two close together on one side is spider bites.
A lowbret sits considerably lower, closer to the chin, and is a different proposition with more tissue to pass through and a longer heal.
The Disc Inside Your Mouth, and What it Means Over Years
This is the honest part and it applies to the standard labret only.
The Standard Labret
The flat disc rests against the gum below your front teeth, and it is there for as long as you keep the piercing. Metal against gum tissue can push it back over time, which dentists call recession, and gum tissue does not grow back. Metal against enamel wears enamel.
Neither is inevitable. Both are largely preventable, and four things do the preventing.
Get the length right, then come back and downsize. By a distance the biggest factor. The starter bar is deliberately long to allow for swelling. Once that has gone you return and it is swapped for a shorter one sized to your healed anatomy. Skipping that appointment is the most common reason a well placed labret causes dental problems years later, because a bar longer than it needs to be moves, presses and gets fiddled with.
A flat disc, never a ball. A flat back lies smoothly against the gum. A ball protrudes, presses harder on a smaller area, and is genuinely uncomfortable to have in there.
Implant grade titanium. ASTM F136 is the standard to ask for by name, and it contains no nickel in its composition. Our comparison of titanium, steel and gold covers the alternatives properly.
Stop clicking it against your teeth. Almost everybody does this unconsciously and it is the fastest route to chipped enamel there is. It is a habit rather than something inherent to the piercing.
Then tell your dentist and let them look at that spot at each visit. Caught early, recession is solved by changing the jewellery or its position. Caught late, it is not.
The vertical labret
Passes up through the lower lip. Enters on the front face, exits on the top edge. A curved barbell with both ends visible from the outside.
Nothing sits inside your mouth. No disc, no contact with your gum or your teeth, and none of the section above applies to it. For anybody who wants a lip piercing and is genuinely concerned about the dental side, this is the answer rather than talking yourself out of it.
It reads differently from the front. A standard labret shows one point below the lip. A vertical shows two, framing the lip edge. Softer and more decorative, and a lot of people prefer it once they see it.
It needs enough lip. This is the real constraint. The piercing has to pass through the body of the lower lip with enough tissue on both sides to sit comfortably. A shallow or thin lower lip may not support it well, and a piercer should tell you honestly rather than proceeding.
It swells more. The lip itself is being pierced rather than the tissue below it, and lips swell impressively. The first few days are more dramatic than with a standard labret.
It is more visible, and harder to disguise. Both ends show, and unlike a standard labret there is no discreet retainer that hides it convincingly. Worth knowing before booking if visibility at work is a genuine factor rather than a passing thought.
Choosing The Right Piercing
The short version, and it is genuinely a choice rather than one being better.
Choose a standard labret if you want the classic single point below the lip, you want the option of a discreet retainer later, and you are willing to do the downsize appointment and the dental habits properly.
Choose a vertical labret if the hardware inside your mouth is what has been stopping you, if you prefer the two point look, and if you have enough lip depth to support it.
Have somebody look at your lip before deciding, because the anatomy question only applies to one of the two and it is answered in seconds rather than argued about online.
Healing, and Swelling
Two to three months for a standard labret, and often a little longer for a vertical.
The first three days are the swollen ones and they surprise people. The lower lip swells substantially, speech is slightly affected, and this is normal rather than a problem. It peaks early and settles fast.
Cold helps. Cold water, cold soft food, something cold held against the outside. Heat does the opposite, so hot drinks and steam are worth avoiding for a few days.
Weeks one to four. Swelling goes. Crusting on the outside continues on and off, which is normal healing. The downsize usually happens in here.
Two to three months. It looks finished before it is, and the outside settles well before the inside does. Changing the jewellery early is the classic setback.
Two surfaces on a standard labret. The outside is cleaned with sterile saline, the inside is rinsed. Alcohol based mouthwash is the wrong tool, since it is harsh on healing tissue and drying, and constant use slows healing rather than speeding it. A saline rinse or an alcohol free mouthwash diluted with water, after eating and before bed.
A vertical labret is simpler, since it is all exterior. Sterile saline twice a day and leave it alone.
Eating, drinking and the first week
Cool and soft for the first few days. Heat increases swelling and swelling is the thing you are managing.
Spicy food, very acidic food, alcohol and smoking all irritate a fresh oral piercing directly.
Smaller bites, chewed deliberately, until the habit forms. Almost every chipped tooth story starts with somebody eating normally on a bar still at starter length.
A straw helps in the first days, keeping liquid off the piercing and avoiding a cup pressing against a swollen lip.
And expect to speak slightly differently for a few days. The lower lip is swollen and doing more work than usual. It resolves quickly and it catches people out, particularly anybody whose job involves talking all day. Getting this done the week before a run of presentations is a decision worth making deliberately rather than discovering.
Anything that goes near somebody else's mouth is worth pausing on while the piercing is open tissue.
Placement
A labret is nominally centred, and centred is a decision rather than a measurement.
Your face is not symmetrical. The centre of your lower lip, the centre of your chin and the centre of your nose are frequently three slightly different points. A piercer has to choose which one the piercing reads against, and the answer is the one your eye uses looking at your whole face rather than any single measured midpoint.
It is marked sitting up, relaxed, not talking. A mouth held in a deliberate expression sits differently from a resting one, and a mark placed while you are mid-sentence can end up reading off when your face settles.
You should see it in a mirror and be able to move it. That is the last free moment and it is worth taking properly rather than glancing at.
A side labret is more forgiving, which is worth knowing. Off centre by design means there is no exact line for your eye to measure against, so if precision worries you it is a genuine alternative rather than a compromise.
And height is a real choice. A labret sitting close under the lip reads differently from one placed lower toward the chin. Ask to see the mark at two heights before deciding, since most people have a preference they did not know they had until they saw both.
What Can Go Wrong
Swelling against a bar that is too short. Prevented entirely by the long starter bar, which is why it looks wrong at first.
A bar left long after the swelling has gone. The other half of the same problem, and the one people cause themselves by not returning.
Irritation bumps on the outside. Mechanical, as everywhere. Something is pressing, catching or being fiddled with. Our article on telling irritation from infection covers what a real problem looks like as against ordinary healing.
Migration on a vertical labret, which is possible because it passes through a smaller amount of tissue. The sign is the tissue over the bar visibly thinning and the two ends creeping closer. Come in early. Our article on why piercings reject and migrate covers what to watch for.
Genuine infection is less common than people fear and differs in kind rather than degree. Spreading redness, heat you can feel, swelling that increases rather than decreases, thick yellow or green discharge, or a fever. That is a doctor, promptly, and do not take the jewellery out first, because a closing channel traps it inside.
Bottom Line
If you want a lip piercing and nobody has mentioned the vertical labret to you, that is the first thing to ask about. It gives a similar look with nothing against your teeth or gums, and a great many people who would have chosen it are never offered it.
If you go with a standard labret, the dental side is entirely manageable and it depends almost entirely on one appointment. Take the long starter bar, come back when you are told to and have it shortened, insist on a flat disc in implant grade titanium, and break the habit of clicking it against your teeth before it forms. Do those and there is very little to think about for the next twenty years.
Come in and let somebody look at your lip. Which of the two suits you is a thirty second answer in person and an unanswerable one online.
FAQ
What is the difference between a labret and a vertical labret?
A standard labret passes straight through with a flat disc inside your mouth. A vertical labret passes up through the lip itself, with both ends visible outside and nothing inside your mouth at all. Same name, genuinely different piercings.
Will a labret damage my teeth?
It can, and usually does not when the jewellery is a properly fitted flat disc in implant grade material, you return for the downsize once swelling has gone, and you stop clicking it against your teeth. If the dental side worries you, a vertical labret avoids it entirely.
How much does it hurt?
A brief sharp pinch, over in a second, and most people find it milder than expected since it passes through soft tissue rather than cartilage. The swelling over the next few days is more noticeable than the piercing.
How swollen will I get?
More than you expect, peaking in the first three days. Cold water and cold soft food genuinely help. A vertical labret swells more, because the lip itself is pierced.
Can I hide it at work?
A standard labret takes a clear or skin toned retainer, which makes it far less noticeable. A vertical labret is harder to disguise since both ends show. Worth raising before booking if it matters.
Can I get a ring in it?
In a standard labret, once healed, some people wear a ring through it. A vertical labret takes a curved barbell and a ring is not an option in that placement.
What are snake bites?
A pair of labrets, one either side of the lower lip. They are usually best done together, since matching a second to a healed first is harder than placing both at once, and it does mean two lots of swelling in the same week.
