Tongue piercings can be a fun form of self-expression and individuality. But if you are considering getting a tongue piercing, talk to your dentist and educate yourself on the risks involved. Like any piercing, there’s a risk for infection—but when it comes to your oral health, the long-term effects could impact your teeth, gums, and other areas of your mouth. Learn what tongue piercings are, what to expect, the risks involved, and how to care for them.
A tongue piercing is a type of body piercing that is directly placed through the tongue. Interestingly, oral piercings have early origins as ancient types of body modification and self-expression. In fact, oral jewelry and tooth ornamentation existed in cultures worldwide, from the ancient Mayan civilization to modern-day Central America. Other decorative oral embellishments still exist today — like tooth gems, dental grills, and gold crowns. Still, tongue piercing is considered the most common type of oral piercing. This type of piercing is classified as “intraoral, ” meaning both ends of the jewelry reside in the mouth (whereas “perioral” means an oral piercing that has one end in the mouth and one end penetrating the skin’s surface).
You can choose from several options when it comes to piercings. Many select a stud, which at its most basic form is a rod with a metal sphere at both ends. Other types of tongue piercings, like barbells, rings, and hoops, are made of various metals like stainless steel, gold, and titanium.
The Healing Process Of A Tongue Piercing (with Pictures)
Tongue rings refer to a ring inserted through the lingual frenulum, the thin strip of tissue that connects the tongue’s underside to the floor of the mouth.
At this point, you might be wondering: Do tongue piercings ruin your teeth? Are tongue piercings bad for my teeth? How can I prevent tooth damage with a tongue piercing? Keep reading to learn about the risks associated with tongue piercings and how to minimize them.
These risks might seem a little scary, but oral piercing complications are relatively common, which is why you need a comprehensive understanding of the effects on your oral health. Luckily, dentists also commonly treat patients with oral piercings, so talk to your dentist before you decide to move forward.
Tongue Piercing Risks
When you first get your tongue pierced, you may develop a habit of bumping your jewelry against your teeth when talking or eating or even biting it. This common habit can injure your gums and lead to cracked, scratched, or sensitive teeth. It can also damage fillings. While you might wish for tongue rings or piercings that don’t damage teeth, all tongue piercings put your mouth at risk. If you want to prevent tooth damage with a tongue piercing, talk to your dentist about ways to reduce this habit, as well as potential coverings for the piercing. Beyond the possibility of cracking and chipping, the jewelry can also accumulate plaque as it traps food and debris, which can lead to tooth decay and cavities.
Because of its moist nature, your mouth creates an ideal place for bacteria to grow and live. That puts your mouth at risk of infection, especially when you make an incision and introduce jewelry. An infected piercing could potentially become life-threatening, as your tongue could swell and block your airway.
Sometimes, your tongue may feel numb after getting pierced, which could be caused by temporary nerve damage. However, in some cases, the damage is permanent — which can affect your sense of taste and mouth movement.
Meanings Of Different Body Piercings
While a tongue piercing always puts your teeth at risk, you can implement some healthy habits to avoid these oral health issues. Check out these tips on taking care of your piercing.
While having a piercing can fulfill your need for self-expression, the American Dental Association advises against it, as the oral health risks outweigh the benefits. Still, if you have a piercing or want to get one, discuss it with your dentist to help keep your oral health in the best possible shape.
Oral Care Center articles are reviewed by an oral health medical professional. This information is for educational purposes only. This content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of your dentist, physician or other qualified healthcare provider.Oral piercings are a popular form of self-expression. While people think they look cool, they can be hazardous to your health. That’s because your mouth contains millions of bacteria, and infection and swelling often occur with mouth piercings. For instance, your mouth and tongue could swell so much that you close off your airway or you could possibly choke if part of the jewelry breaks off in your mouth. Oral piercing could also lead to more serious infections, like hepatitis or endocarditis. Here’s what you should consider before going under the needle.
How Long Does It Take For A Snake Eyes Tongue Piercing To Heal?
Oral piercings are any piercings of the tongue, lips, cheek or uvula. Like any other piercing, a needle is used to create the opening through which the jewelry is housed. As with pierced ears, the metal jewelry used in oral piercings comes in different styles, including studs, barbells and rings. However, piercing your tongue, lips or cheek involves greater health risks than piercing your ears. Before having any part of your mouth pierced, you should seek advice from your dentist.
When should I get help if something seems wrong? You can expect short-term symptoms like pain, swelling, and extra saliva. It is important to watch out for signs of infection such as:
If you experience any of these issues, see a healthcare provider. Also, get help if you just feel that something isn’t right.
Oral (tongue And Lip) Piercing: Risks, Dos, Don'ts And Self Care Tips
If you’ve decided to get an oral piercing, make sure you’re up to date on vaccines for hepatitis B and tetanus. Pick a piercing shop that is reputable, clean and well managed. Look for a piercer who has a valid and up-to-date license, which indicates he or she was specially trained. The piercer should wash their hands with germ-killing soap, wear fresh disposable gloves, and use sterilized tools or ones that are thrown away after one use. You’ll want to make sure that the people who work in the shop have been vaccinated against Hepatitis B, and that the shop doesn’t use a piercing gun. You always want to make sure they are using a needle that has never been used before and that the jewelry is made of surgical steel, solid gold, or platinum.
As long as your mouth stays free of infection and your oral piercings do not interfere with normal function, they can stay in your mouth indefinitely. Just be sure to see your dentist at the first sign of pain or problems, in addition to your regular checkups. Because of the risks involved even after the initial wound has healed, such as damage to the teeth or jewelry that becomes loose and could be ingested, your safest bet is to avoid oral piercings altogether.If you’ve decided to get a tongue piercing, it’s essential to know what to expect before you go into the piercing parlor. For example, post-piercing, you may experience pain underneath your tongue.
This can either indicate a side effect that’s no cause for alarm or may be a signal of a more significant problem. Complications in your mouth need to be monitored closely as an infection here can have dire consequences.
Deadly Magnet 'tongue Piercings' Should Be Banned, Says Nhs
Before we can talk about how a piercing affects your tongue, we need to understand a bit about the structure of this organ.
Your tongue is a muscular organ made up of two muscles running next to one another and working in tandem. The line down the center of your tongue is connective tissue that separates the two tongue muscles. If you lift your tongue and look at its underside, you should see two blue blood vessels running parallel to one another. These are high-volume lingual blood vessels.
The placement of a piercing in your tongue is vital as it makes a difference to the function of your tongue. Where the tongue is pierced also affects the likelihood of consequences because of your body modification.
Tongue Piercings Worse With Metal
Out of the six types of tongue piercings, the midline piercing is the only one that goes through only the connective tissue in your tongue. This connective tissue doesn’t have nerve endings or blood vessels, making a well-placed midline piercing through this tissue less painful than you might imagine a tongue piercing to be.
Penetration of other areas of the tongue increases the chance of complications, especially the closer you get to the lingual arteries. Your piercer will carefully choose the placement of your tongue piercing to avoid piercing arteries and restricting muscle movement.
All pierces are traumatic for your tongue. This organ will need time to adjust and recover. The other tissues in your mouth will also be adapting to the new hardware inside. In about four to six weeks, the tongue piercing should be fully healed.
Tongue Piercing Facts To Consider
You may be baffled or confused as to why you’re feeling pain underneath the tongue piercing. No matter whether you’ve had the piercing for only a few weeks or longer, you may be developing side effects of the piercing that are having negative consequences on
0 Komentar