COMPLICATIONS OF ORAL PIERCINGS

Complications of oral piercings

Victoria Hickman & Brittany Ryder
Lamar Institute of Technology

COMPLICATIONS OF ORAL PIERCINGS

Complications of Oral piercings

As dental professionals it is important to be educated on various

types of patients one in particular are patients with oral piercings. Oral
piercings are rising in popularity, especially with the younger patients.
When someone gets an oral piercing from a piercing shop they may
teach you how to clean the piercing but they do not give information
on the possible complications that involve the gum tissue and teeth
around it. It is our job as dental hygienist to be informed of the various
types of oral piercings available to be able to properly educate our
patients how to maintain the site and all of the tissues effected.
A lip piercing is a very common oral piercing and can be placed
several different ways. It may be pierced on the upper and/or lower lip,
down the midline or towards the side of the lip, and above or below the
vermilion border. The front of an oral piercing can have either a hoop
or a stud appearance. With a stud piercing, the back of the ring will
either have a round ball or a flat disk. Using the round ball has the
potential to cause more damage because it protrudes more towards
the teeth and the gingiva. (Plastargias, I., & Sakellari, D. (2014). The
flat disk causes damage as well, but not as severe as the ball. The best
option of the back of the piercing is a flat disk being that it doesnt
protrude as much compared to the ball. Through everyday tasks such
as, talking, eating, yawning, or any other continuous movement of the

COMPLICATIONS OF ORAL PIERCINGS

mouth the piercing can cause irritation and inflammation of the gums.
An irreversible damage caused by a lip piercing is gingival recession.
As the ball rubs against the tooth damage and chipping of the enamel
is likely to occur. Once damage has occurred to the tooth structure the
possibility of a carious lesion has been increased. Lip piercings may be
common, but not as popular as tongue piercings. (ABNER, T., FRANCO,
Z., & ALQAHTANI, B. (2015)
Tongue piercings are the most popular of the oral piercings.
(Ziebolz, D., Hornecker, E., & Mausberg, R. (2009). Tongue piercings
can cause swelling, pain, difficulty in mastication, and swallowing.
Complications with tongue piercings can become more severe and
cause more serious damage like fracturing of the teeth, pulpal trauma,
gingival trauma, tissue overgrowth and bifid tongue. (Dougherty, S. L.,
& Tervort-Bingham, K. (2005). Tongue piercings are usually always a
surgical steel bar with two balls, one on each end. The bars are
typically heavy and tend to apply pressure to the lingual of the anterior
teeth when talking or eating. The continuous pressure of the teeth can
cause damage of the enamel, recession of the gums and eventually
bone loss. (Hennequin-Hoenderdos, N., Slot, D., & Van der Weijden, G.
(2011).
Cleansing an oral piercing is easy. However, you must make sure
that your hands are washed thoroughly before you touch your new oral
piercing. To clean the piercing the patient would need to soak the area

COMPLICATIONS OF ORAL PIERCINGS

in a saline solution two to three times a day. Cleaning the piercing too
often can cause discoloration and irritation of the piercing and the oral
cavity. The patient should be advised to use a soft bristled toothbrush
to clean the area from plaque but not to use toothpaste on it and keep
it separated from other toothbrushes that would be used to brush their
teeth. The patient should also to be advised not to use a mouthwash to
clean it. The patient may think they the mouthwash is cleaning the
piercing but the result is actually irritation and delayed healing.
(ABNER, T., FRANCO, Z., & ALQAHTANI, B. (2015)

Dental hygienist should be aware of all of the complications and

have a thorough understanding on how to clean the piercing and
prevent damage to the oral tissues and the surrounding teeth. So
many people get oral piercings without thinking about the damage it
can cause and not realizing that the damage can be pretty significant
especially if they do not take care of them properly. The dental
hygienist needs to stress the importance of the care and maintenance
of the oral piercing and to teach the patient why keeping the piercing
cleaned, and the tissues around it safe is so important.

COMPLICATIONS OF ORAL PIERCINGS

Works Cited
ABNER, T., FRANCO, Z., & ALQAHTANI, B. (2015). Taking care of piercings.
Rdh, 35(9), 110-112 3p.
Hennequin-Hoenderdos, N., Slot, D., & Van der Weijden, G. (2011).
Complications of oral and peri-oral piercings: a summary of case reports.
International Journal Of Dental Hygiene, 9(2), 101-109 9p. doi:10.1111/j.16015037.2010.00504.x
Plastargias, I., & Sakellari, D. (2014). The Consequences of Tongue Piercing on
Oral and Periodontal Tissues. ISRN Otolaryngology, 1-6.
doi:10.1155/2014/876510
Dougherty, S. L., & Tervort-Bingham, K. (2005). Assessment of the alveolar bone
surrounding the mandibular anterior teeth of individuals wearing a tongue stud.
Journal Of Dental Hygiene: JDH / American Dental Hygienists' Association,
79(4), 8.

COMPLICATIONS OF ORAL PIERCINGS

Ziebolz, D., Hornecker, E., & Mausberg, R. (2009). Microbiological findings at
tongue piercing sites - implications to oral health. International Journal Of Dental
Hygiene, 7(4), 256-262 7p. doi:10.1111/j.1601-5037.2009.00369.x