Tongue piercing

Jewelry Discussion
1

Hopefully somebody out there with some experince with body piercing
can give me some advice! My wife’s 16 year old sister tells me she
wants to get her tongue pierced. I don’t have a blanket problem with
body piercing, personal expression is after all personal expression,
however, here in the U.S., people under 18 can’t get any piercings
done by liscensed professionals without parental consent, and that
won’t happen! What I need to know is what , if any, potential
problems she could be facing, from a health and hygiene standpoint as
well as the safety issue of having a chunk of steel in her mouth.
Again, I am not making a judgement call here, I would just like a little advice.
Thanks in advance! A.J.

2

Here is a good site, with pics and experiences and faq’s dealing with
tounge piercings, hope this helps I have about 6 body piercings, but
to each thier own

Ringdoc

** Attachment Removed **

3

Hey A.J. The first risk that comes to mind is hepatitus, this is a
risk with all types of body piercing, even ear piercing. She will
have to take acourse of antibiotics initially just in case of
infection. I think you might try to logon toWeb MD, they have an
section that will give you more on this subject. Good
Luck, Linda Steinke

4

Good question…Dentists all over the country are qutting lots of
money in their pocket from fixing teeth damaged by the steel balls
inside kids mouth… I’ve read articles stating just that and more in
the Los Angeles Times, Times Magazine, and the Utne Reader…to name
a few…Personally I figure their would be better places to put
something like that. good luck…gianna

5 
 What I need to know is what , if any, potential
problems she could be facing, from a health and hygiene standpoint as
well as the safety issue of having a chunk of steel in her mouth.

Hello, You want to make sure she goes to a clean reputable piercing
parlor for this. Luckily, as piercing is more common, it’s easier to
find places that can do proper sterilization and have certified
piercers. Jewelry should be made from surgical stainless steel (I’m
not sure how titanium or gold would fare in the mouth). The major
problem is chipping teeth. Another is the receding lower gum tissue
due to the barbell rubbing against the gums. This can be helped by
using a flat disk end on the barbell as opposed to round. There’s a
risk of nerve damage but probably less of a risk than getting a tooth
pulled. Some people lisp for a while getting used to it. Tongue
piecing can be susceptible to infection so you need to really keep the
mouth clean while it heals. You will find more and
resources about this on the rec.arts.bodyart newsgroup FAQS:
http://www.cs.uu.nl/wais/html/na-dir/bodyart/piercing-faq/.html

Amy O’Connell
Amy O’Connell Jewelry

6

A.J. You might want tocheck with a number of dentists in your area
and see what effect a loose piece of metal in the mouth of a 16 year
old could do the enamel of his/her teeth. Doesn’t sound as though it
would be too healthy.

        You asked!      Best,   Kelly
7

CHIPPED TEETH!!! I have many friends who have tongue piercings, and
probably half of which have chipped at least one tooth. My old
roommate even had to get a crown on his front tooth due to chipping
about a quarter of the tooth off. If this young lady does get one,
be sure she wears ONLY plastic tipped jewelry, or you will certinly
be spending plenty of money on dental bills. Hope this helped. Joel
Retzlaff