Oral piercings are very popular these days. People are piercing their tongues, their lips, cheeks, uvula and splitting their tongues. Once they have a piecing it becomes a habit to play with it, whether with your tongue or your fingers.

This can cause you all kinds of problems. Your mouth contains a lot of bacteria. Your piercings provide an entryway for these bacteria to invade and thrive.

It will eventually lead to inflammation, evidenced by swelling and redness, and that can lead to infection or worse.

What Can Happen if I Have Piercings?

The simple answer to this is that you run the risk that the piercing you wear can become unlocked and slip into your throat. Don't believe his can't happen, it does. Pieces of the jewelry have broken off and caused the victim to choke.

Many times, mouth piercings can cause swelling and infections. If your tongue swells or becomes infected, it could block your airway and cause difficulty breathing. It could require medical intervention.

Sometimes when you have a tongue piercing or split you have a numb tongue. This condition is usually temporary but sometimes becomes permanent. If that happens, you could lose your sense of taste or the nerve damage could affect your speech.

How Can I Handle This Better?

The first thing you should do is plan to have regular visits to your dentist for teeth cleaning and an examination. Your dentist can spot problems before they get out of hand.

Another thing you should do is to brush regularly - twice a day. Remove your jewelry every few days and soak it in alcohol. Rinse your mouth with mouthwash while the jewelry is removed to clean out the holes.

Don't play with your jewelry and try not to bite down on it. That increases the risk of the jewelry breaking or unlocking which puts you at risk of choking.

Please contact our office if you have any questions about oral piercings.