Tongue Piercing Revisited

A number of years ago we wrote an article titled “Why Pierce a Perfectly Good Tongue?” and posted it on our website. We thought we were just presenting information for people to have while they considered whether or not to get their tongue pierced. We were surprised by the hate mail that we received. Apparently we struck a nerve when we talked about the “cons” of tongue piercings.

We decided it was time to revisit tongue piercing after reading an article about a study published in the Journal of Clinical Orthodontics this month.

Researchers at the University at Buffalo did a case study on a 26 year old female patient who complained about a large space that had developed between her two front teeth. The patient had her tongue pierced when she was nineteen and at that time she had no space between her two front teeth. She provided photos showing how her teeth looked prior to having her tongue pierced.

So, how did having her tongue pierced cause her front teeth to separate? When this patient had her tongue pierced she had a barbell type stud placed through her tongue. The tongue is very vascular muscle, meaning it is a muscle with good blood flow, so people who have tongue studs leave them in all of the time so that the hole does not close up. From the time she was nineteen and had the tongue pierced this patient had played with the stud pushing it into her two front teeth and then as a space began she would habitually play with the stud and push it into this new space.

To repair this space this patient now needs fixed braces to push the front teeth back together at a cost of thousands of dollars. I wonder if she thinks that tongue stud was worth it.

While this wasn’t mentioned in this particular study we have seen patients with gum recession requiring gum surgery due to a tongue stud. Gum surgery is expensive and uncomfortable.

Check out our article “Why Pierce a Perfectly Good Tongue?” at www.drboyd.com to read more about the risks of having your tongue pierced. But be warned, we are biased and do not think it is a good idea to pierce a hole in your tongue. What if the piercing person hits a vein?? You have to go to the hospital to get the bleeding to stop.

If you decide to have your tongue pierced make sure you know how to spot an infection so that you can seek medical attention right away. In addition to primary infections that could develop in and around the piercing there are also two main secondary infections that have been known to occur in patients who have had their tongues pierced: Ludwig’s angina which can cause swelling that closes the windpipe leaving the patient unable to breathe and requiring intubation; and Hepatitis which destroys a person’s liver and is incurable.

If you have educated yourself and still decide to put a hole in your tongue make sure that the piercing shop has strict sterilization procedures. They should be every bit as clean and sterile as a dental office. After all, they are working in your mouth with sharp objects, putting holes in your perfectly good tongue. Be smart!!