Tongue piercing, or piercing of any
other intraoral (within the mouth) site, is associated
with a variety of risks. Please consider these risks
carefully before deciding whether to have your tongue
pierced.
Risk of infection:
Body piercers must adhere to infection control standards,
such as sterilization of needles and other instruments,
to prevent disease transmission; but many practitioners
are unlicensed and often self-trained. Intraoral piercing
has a high risk of infection because of the high levels
of bacteria in the mouth. Infection can lead to a variety
of health problems.
Risk of dental
damage: Intraoral jewelry can injure teeth by
chipping or cracking enamel. While cracking may be confined
to the tooth surface, it may also go deep into the tooth.
This could result in nerve damage, leading to the need
for a root canal (a procedure by which the small, tubular
channel normally filled with pulp in the root of a tooth
is opened, cleaned, and filled) or an extraction. Most
dentists discourage oral piercing because of these and
other risks.
Tongue piercing is painful, as no anesthesia
is used. Complications of tongue piercing, other than
those listed above, can include:
Loss of blood during the piercing procedure
Compromise of the airway by post-surgical tongue
swelling
