Alternative node title: what are these yellow spots on my upper lip?
Fordyce's granules or spots are ectopic sebaceous glands in the oral mucosa. They appear on the mucosa of the upper lip, cheek and anterior pillar of the fauces, and usually have a symmetrical distribution. They rarely occur in the lower lip.
They appear as separate small, yellowish bodies beneath the surface of the mucosa - though sometimes they are so numerous that they form slightly raised confluent plaques. They tend to increase in number with age. Apparently they are present in more than half the adult population, though the number of glands varies greatly between individuals.
They don't appear to have any function in the oral cavity (hence the term: ectopic) and there are no significant pathologic changes associated with them.