Most often during oral examinations, dentists encounter with abnormal attachments of the frenum. These frenal attachments often go unexamined by the dentists during oral examination. Frenal attachments are thin folds of mucous membrane that attach the lips to the alveolar mucosa and underlying periosteum. However, the presence of multiple frenula can be a feature of several inherited syndromes. Ellis-van Creveld (EvC) syndrome, also termed as chondroectodermal dysplasia or mesoectodermal dysplasia is a rare inherited genetic disorder mainly affecting the ectodermal components. The characteristic features of this syndrome include multiple frenula, hypodontia, polydactyly, short stature, cardiac and skeletal anomalies. This paper describes one such syndrome that was suspected based on the multiple frenula noted on oral examination in a teenage girl and confirmed after noting the presence of other co-existing abnormalities.

frenum; multiple frenula; Ellis-van Creveld syndrome; genetic syndrome