September, 2012 »
Oral Piercing —
In today’s society, we see a lot of body art being displayed
on people’s faces. We often see eyebrow
rings, nose rings, and cheek piercings.
As dental professionals at Szmanda Dental Center, we are more concerned
with the piercing site of the area around the lips, the lips themselves and the
tongue.
Obviously, this is not just a fad, as it has been around for
a long time. We don’t want to discourage
people from doing it; we want them to be aware from our standpoint, what can
happen to their oral health as a side effect from this fashion and make a
knowledgeable decision.
One of the main things Szmanda Dental worries about when we
see a tongue ring is chipped teeth.
According to WebMD, 47% of people wearing tongue jewelry for 4 or more
years have at least one chipped tooth.
This tends to happen due to continuous abrasion of the metal or plastic
from the tongue ring on enamel causing small fractures. These chips that occur can of course be fixed
with fillings, but continuing to wear a tongue ring will most likely break out
the filling if could break the enamel to start with. If this happens, most likely a crown will
have to be placed, which can be a costly fix.
Not only are dental professionals concerned about this, but
some piercing facilities also have a growing concern. A local tattoo and piercing shop, Expressions
Ink, has in fact stopped piercing the tongue altogether due to the amount of
chipped teeth they were seeing.
Other than cracked or chipped teeth, in accordance to the
American Dental Association (ADA), here are other effects to consider prior to
piercing your tongue:
·
Excessive drooling due to increased saliva
production
·
Infection, swelling and pain
·
Damage to fillings
·
Scar tissue
·
Nerve damage (loss of taste and movement)
·
Hypersensitivity to metals
·
Injuries to gum tissue
One of the above listed items is infection. Remember, the mouth is host to huge amounts
of bacteria. It literally is the
dirtiest place on the body. Because of
this, an oral piercing has the potential of causing heart problems. The ADA warns that oral piercing carries the
risk of endocarditis, which is an inflammation of the heart valves or
tissues. Bacteria can travel through the
bloodstream from the piercing site to the heart where it can establish a colony
on heart abnormalities.
Another popular piercing on the face is the lip area. Although the actual piercing site heals fast,
you have to be careful while healing takes place due to the risk of infection
from anything such as food or liquids that come into contact with the area.
Szmanda Dental Center’s concern with a lip piercing is the
wear that it can cause on gum tissue.
Constant friction with the lip ring causes abrasion of the gum tissue
and eventually wears it away. Once its
gone, there’s no going back easily. The
only way to fix this is to have gum grafts done, which can add up financially.
When gum tissue is worn away, this exposes areas of the
teeth that aren’t normally exposed causing sensitivity and also can cause the
tooth to loosen due to poor support of surrounding tissue.
And just like tongue piercing, lip rings can chip teeth and
also cause nerve damage to the tooth or the lip.
If you choose to have a facial piercing, please be sure to
discuss concerns with the piercing facility you plan on having the procedure
done at. Discuss sterility, check on
health certificates and licenses, and don’t be afraid to ask questions. Any professional should be happy and willing
to address your concerns.
Please also feel free to ask any questions at Szmanda Dental
Center and we will do our best to address them.
Information provided by Szmanda Dental Center Staff, ADA,
and WebMD.
