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What are oral piercings?
Piercings are popular across various demographics. They are now seen as a legitimate art form, and people decorate various parts of their bodies with jewellery, primarily for aesthetic purposes and self-expression commonly located in areas such as the lips, cheeks, tongue, and frenulum. This may lead to complications ranging from local infections to irreversible damage to hard and soft tissue.
Studies have shown that the tongue is the most common place in the mouth to get a piercing (Malcangi et al., 2023). The image shows the most common sites and types of piercings.
Body piercings should be considered a surgical operation (even if local anaesthesia is not necessary), performed in a clean environment by trained individuals who know how to do them correctly.
Piercers use metals that are not harmful and do not cause allergies. Examples include:
Titanium
Gold
Silver
Stainless Steel
However, they often do not know how to sterilize things or the mouth's anatomy. This could lead to health problems. In general, piercers and people who have piercings often do not know how to take care of the piercing after it is done, and how to clean it at home.
What could go wrong with oral piercings?
Complications of oral piercings may be due to the immediate consequence of the surgical act, such as bleeding, penetration of soft tissue, pain, ulceration and fluid retention (oedema). The most common dental complications include tooth fracture, sensitivity, mobility abrasion, gingival recession, tongue infection/tear and periodontal tissue damage. These result in difficulty eating, chewing, swallowing and talking with intra-oral jewellery. Moreover, maintaining good oral hygiene can be challenging as these pieces of jewellery can be an excellent breeding ground for the micro-organisms of bacterial plaque (Malcangi et al., 2023).
A tooth fracture which occured as a result of a piercing.
Tongue piercings can cause problems such as tongue infections and tongue tear.
How to look after your oral piercing?
Maintaining optimal oral hygiene is vital for individuals adorned with oral piercings. Consulting your dental professional before is a good idea as they may provide valuable advice to minimize potential oral complications. Regular oral care is essential, which entails:
brushing diligently for two minutes each day with fluoride toothpaste
interdental cleaning once daily utilizing dental floss/water flossers
specialized interdental brushes or sticks
Supplementing your regimen with a non-alcoholic mouth rinse, as your oral health therapist recommends, can reduce infection risk (Passos et al., 2022).
References
References
Malcangi, G., Patano, A., Palmieri, G., Riccaldo, L., Pezzolla, C., Mancini, A., Inchingolo, A. D., Di Venere, D., Piras, F., & Inchingolo, F. (2023). Oral Piercing: A Pretty Risk—A Scoping Review of Local and Systemic Complications of This Current Widespread Fashion. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(9), 5744.
Passos, P. F., Pintor, A. V. B., Marañón-Vásquez, G. A., Campos, T., Abrahão, A. C., Ferreira, D. M. T. P., Maia, L. C., Primo, L. G., & Visconti, M. A. (2022). Oral manifestations arising from oral piercings: A systematic review and meta-analyses. Oral surgery, oral medicine, oral pathology and oral radiology, 134(3), 327-341.
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