Oral Piercing Causes Dental Problems

The types of piercing encountered by the authors most often involved the tongue and lip and were usually performed in unregulated parlors by lay practitioners. The authors describe the piercing technique used by two of the major piercing parlors in San Francisco and based their study on questionnaires completed by patrons.

There 51 tongue piercings in 63 individuals who completed the questionnaire. The anterior midline of the tongue was the most common site of oral piercing. The average length of healing time was 3.9 weeks with a range of 3 days to 16 weeks.

There were 13 cases of tooth damage from chipping. Four persons reported gingival injury; eight reported increased salivation, with two of these experiencing infection.

(Boardman R. Dental Problems of Oral Piercing. Oral Health 1997; 87:23-31)