What You Should Know About Piercings, Oral Jewelry, and Tongue Splitting (Part 2)

What You Should Know About Piercings, Oral Jewelry, and Tongue Splitting (Part 2)
Interested in oral jewelry and tongue modification? Learn first about the complications caused by the procedures to prevent making an uninformed choice.

While piercings are quite common among individuals nowadays, with mouth piercings among the most frequently seen, tongue modification is something that remains taboo to a greater majority. Nevertheless, more and more people are undergoing these procedures. This is why it is important to educate the public, especially those who are considering getting their tongues split to know what possible oral health complications they can get as a result of the modifications.

In the previous article, it was discussed that the piercing and tongue splitting procedures can cause a variety of negative side effects, including pain and swelling, bleeding, and infections. In this article, the focus will be on complications you can get by wearing oral jewelry. Most people think the procedure is simple and straightforward, causing only pain, bleeding, and inflammation in the first few weeks, but the truth is that wearing jewelry can cause as much pain and discomfort, if not more, than the actual procedure itself.

Here are some of the known complications of wearing oral jewelry:

  • Chipped Tooth – Many people with piercings tend to play with their oral jewelry using their teeth, which can lead to cracking or chipping the teeth, as well as crowns, fillings, or restorations.

  • Gum Damage – Wearing oral jewelry such as grills and other similar equipment that comes into frequent contact with the gums can cause them to recede from the teeth. This phenomenon can lead to tooth sensitivity, exposing the roots of the teeth and making them susceptible to decay.

  • Interference with Radiographs – Oral jewelry can hinder x-ray transmissions that are needed to create a radiograph. This is crucial because these images of your mouth are needed to properly evaluate your oral health, as they are used as a reference to detect any abnormalities in your mouth.

  • Overgrowth in Gum Tissues – Since piercings are wounds, there is always a tendency that the gum tissues will grow over the jewelry, where the embedded jewelry will have to be surgically removed.

  • Risk of Swallowing or Inhalation – In the event that your jewelry becomes loose without you knowing it, it becomes a choking hazard as you might swallow it and it ends up in your windpipe. If it goes down to your stomach, it may cause damage to your digestive system.

The aforementioned complications may or may not happen to you, but it is better that you are informed of the possible risks before deciding to undergo such a procedure. These may seem like a good form of self-expression, but it would be wise to carefully weigh the pros and cons first before making the decision. Always consider the overall effects that it can have on your oral health.