Angel bites are two piercings above the upper lip, one on each side, placed to mirror each other. Functionally they are a Monroe and a Madonna worn as a pair, and each passes through the lip tissue to exit inside the mouth.
They frame the mouth rather than sitting on it, which is what separates them visually from the lower-lip pairs.
Placement, and the symmetry problem
The two holes sit above the upper lip, below the nostrils, roughly level with each other and evenly spaced either side of the philtrum.
Symmetry is harder here than on the lower lip, for one reason: your nose is in the frame. The eye reads the two studs against the nostrils above them as well as against each other, so a pair measured evenly from the centre line can still look off if the nostrils are not perfectly even, which for most people they are not.
A piercer who is good at this marks both, steps back, adjusts, and hands you a mirror before touching a needle. Look head-on and in profile. This is the stage to speak up.
Have both done in one appointment. Matching a second piercing to a settled first is considerably harder than placing two together.
Pain
About 3 out of 10 each. The tissue is thin and each piercing is over quickly. Two in a row is not double the pain, though most people notice the second more than the first.
Swelling is the part worth planning for. Two fresh wounds in the upper lip swell more than one, and for three or four days that means an upper lip that feels stiff, speech that feels clumsy and eating that takes concentration. Have soft food in the house before you go.
Healing
Two to three months, healing in parallel.
- Days 1-4: peak swelling, tenderness, awkward speech and eating.
- Weeks 1-3: swelling subsides, crusting outside, light white discharge inside.
- Weeks 4-12: the channels finish maturing internally.
Downsize both at two to four weeks. The starting posts are long to allow for swelling. Left in place afterwards, the spare length becomes two loose bars knocking against your teeth and gums, which is where most upper-lip problems begin.
The gum above your front teeth
Two flat discs sit inside your upper lip. Correctly fitted, each rests against soft tissue. Badly fitted or left oversized, they press on the gum above your front teeth, and sustained pressure there causes recession that does not grow back.
The mitigations are the same as for a single piercing, applied twice:
- Downsize on schedule.
- Ask for the smallest comfortable disc.
- Tell your dentist, so the gum margin behind both piercings gets checked routinely.
Enamel chipping comes from the habit of playing with the jewelry against your teeth rather than from the jewelry itself.
Aftercare
Outside: sterile saline twice a day, patted dry with clean paper towel. Inside: an alcohol-free antibacterial or saline rinse after eating, after anything other than water, and after smoking. Alcohol-based mouthwash is too harsh for a healing oral wound.
Soft cold food and small bites for the first fortnight. The aftercare guide has the routine in full.
Jewelry
Flat-back labret studs, 16 gauge, implant-grade titanium, long posts to start and downsized to 5 or 6 mm. Threadless or internally threaded only. See the materials guide.
Matching ends are the usual choice, since the whole point of the placement is the pair. Small gems or plain balls both work; rings sit awkwardly above the upper lip and are rarely worn here.
Related placements
- Monroe: one of the two, on its own.
- Medusa: centred in the philtrum, between where angel bites sit.
- Snake bites: the lower-lip equivalent.
- Angel fangs: a different piercing despite the similar name, and worth not confusing at the counter.
Cost
$60 to $140 for the pair in a US studio, plus jewelry. Most studios discount the second piercing in the same session, so the pair together costs less than two visits. Tip 15 to 20 percent.
Frequently asked questions
What are angel bites piercings?
Two piercings above the upper lip, one on each side, placed symmetrically. In effect they are a Monroe on the left and a Madonna on the right worn together. Each passes through the lip tissue and exits inside the mouth.
Do angel bites hurt?
About 3 out of 10 each. The tissue above the upper lip is thin and each piercing takes a moment. The swelling over the following few days is more disruptive than the pain, and with two sites it is more noticeable than with one.
How long do angel bites take to heal?
Two to three months. They heal alongside each other rather than one after the other, so the total time matches a single upper-lip piercing.
What is the difference between angel bites and snake bites?
The lip. Angel bites sit above the upper lip, one on each side. Snake bites sit below the lower lip, one on each side. Both are pairs, and both exit inside the mouth.
Do angel bites damage your gums?
They can, in the same way a single Monroe can, and there are two of them. The flat discs should rest against the soft inside of the lip and not against the gum above your front teeth. Downsize on time and have your dentist check the gum margin.
Can I get angel bites done at the same time?
Yes, and it is the better approach. Marking both against your face in one sitting is how a piercer gets them to look even. Adding the second later means matching a piercing that has already settled.
Sources
- Association of Professional Piercers - Suggested aftercare for oral piercingshttps://safepiercing.org/oral-aftercare/
- Association of Professional Piercers - Jewelry for initial piercingshttps://safepiercing.org/jewelry-for-initial-piercings/
- American Dental Association (MouthHealthy) - Oral piercingshttps://www.mouthhealthy.org/all-topics-a-z/oral-piercings
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This article is for education only and is not medical advice. If a piercing is hot, swollen, spreading redness, oozing yellow or green discharge, or you have a fever, see a doctor today.