Warning! Oral Piercing is Highly Dangerous for Your Health

Body piercing, especially the face piercing has gained tremendous popularity among adolescents of the current generation with piercings of the ears, eyebrows, lips, tongue and chin, the list goes on. They insert different types of jewelry like – studs, barbells and rings in these pierced places to give them a more stylish look but unfortunately they do it by putting their health on lifelong risks. Dr. James Noble at Orthodontics at Don Mils is concerned with oral piercing as its hazards are not just limited to your oral health but also to your overall body’s health, causing a greater risk to your life.


Although, there are different risks associated with different kinds of body piercing yet here we are going to discuss, the oral piercing, that may involve the tongue as well as lip piercing.


Associated Risks with Tongue Piercing

In tongue piercing, a metal role is incorporated in the middle of the tongue. As the piercing is done through a foreign object; therefore, there is great risk of germs transmission that are usually in the form of viruses of different diseases like hepatitis and others. Your mouth always contains some kinds of bacteria and during piercing; these microbes can run into the blood vessels, present in the tongue. Once the infection is transferred into your tongue, it may transfer to your other body parts rapidly, ultimately causing a serious disease.


Pain and Swelling in Tongue

Piercing can also become a major cause of pain, swelling and even bleeding in the tongue. Sometimes the tongue swells to an extent that it may become a great hindrance in proper air intake. Thus, it becomes difficult to swallow and chew foods and you just have to rely on liquids; thus, the insufficient food can become a major cause of your week health and sudden weight loss.


Damages to Gums and Teeth

Usually, the people become habitual of playing with the piercing in their mouth by rolling or twisting it, which severely damages the teeth surface and also causes wounds, swelling and bleeding in the gums. Your teeth may get scratched or fractured or can even become oversensitive. If you have fillings in your teeth, piercing can damage it, ultimately exposing your teeth roots. Academy of General Dentistry revealed a report that indicated that the tongue piercing can become a cause of chipped teeth, infections, nerve and gum damage, drooling, taste loss and even tooth loss. It is revealed from another report that the people, who wear tongue jewelry continuously for four or more years can get their teeth chipped.  


Damage to Nerve

After a piercing, your tongue may get numb due to anesthesia and damage blood vessels. The numbness vanishes with the passage of time. However, in some cases, it may persist permanently resultantly damaging your taste buds and mouth movement.



In most of the people, piercing results in excessive saliva production in your mouth that might irritate you a lot.