Risks of Having a Piercing in Your Mouth
Are you thinking about getting a piercing? If it is in your mouth you have to consider the following information to keep a healthy and beautiful smile.
To prevent oral health problems not only consists in brushing your teeth 3 times a day and visit the dentist often. In our life we acquire some habits and lifestyles that are risky for our teeth. In between them, there are perforations and piercings. The face, specially the mouth area, is one of the places where it is more common to see these sorts of oral piercings.
The labial frenulum, lips, tongue and even cheeks, are the most regular areas to place them. This trend is actually dangerous for our teeth, gums and tongue. Moreover micro trauma and wounds can provoke oral infections. Which are the reasons?
First of all, to place them it is necessary to punch out, so that, there will be a wound we should watch closely using a cleaning routine, very carefully, to avoid pain and inflammation. This can affect at last the ganglia underneath our chin and lower jaw. It usually starts a few hours after it is placed and can last 3 to 5 weeks.
Second, but not less important, is that the touch of the metal against gums and teeth can provoke the damage of them in a long term. One of the options that can reduce these consequences is the use of silicon plugs instead of the metallic ones.
Over the months the main impacts that you could notice in your mouth are the following:
- Gingival resection. It is the receding of the gums, letting more dental surface exposed, which helps the loss of the teeth intersection, increasing its mobility and posterior loss. The risk of suffering this complication is aggravated if the person wearing the piercing is also a smoker.
- Dental trauma. These are the most frequent injury and they can vary from a simple wear due to the metal touching the teeth, to the spalling or fracture of any dental piece.
- Periodontal illness. The constant contact of the metal of the piercing causes the accumulation of bacterial plaque, because it is hard to reach some areas so that, it promotes the tartar’s formation. Mostly in the anterior lower teeth, moreover, as a last consequence, it helps the appearance of gingivitis and as a consequence, of periodontitis.
- Dental malocclusion. The permanent introduction of a metallic element alters the strength of our mouth and position of our teeth, modifying the bite of the smile.
- There can be also slurred speech. The piercing in the tongue changes the pronunciation of the words containing the letters R, S, T and L. Moreover it modifies the taste and intake when eating.
If you haven’t visit your dentist since you got your piercing, set an appointment to check if there are any of the situations we described before. And if you decide to get one, keep a spotless oral hygiene to reduce damages on your smile.