Decorating the body with earrings in the mouth is still popular. However, it is worth realizing what health consequences can be caused by the piercing process itself, as well as how the presence of an earring can affect the condition of your teeth.
The reasons for earring in the mouth are often aesthetic reasons, fashion and willingness to belong to a specific group. Earrings in the mouth are more common in women than in men, and the most frequently decorated regions are the tongue and lips, although sometimes cheeks, bonds or a tongue are pierced. In these places, the jewelry has the shape of a beam finished on both sides with balls (barbell), a beam completed with a ball on one side and a flat tip on the other (labret), sometimes it takes the form of an unsealed circle with a ball at one or both ends (ring). Earrings are made of titanium, stainless steel, acrylic or metal alloys, including those containing nickel and palladium.
Piercing is an invasive way of decorating the body, causing the break of the skin and mucous membranes, and the resulting wound may be the gate to the penetration of microorganisms. Not always the piercing procedure is performed under appropriate hygienic conditions, which may involve unnecessary risk of infection.
Early complications
Almost all people who have an earring in the mouth have early postoperative complications that are noticeable less than a day after the piercing. It includes pain and swelling, making it difficult to speak, eat and swallow. There are less frequent increases of saliva, local allergic reactions to metals used in jewelry (especially nickel and palladium) and the feeling of a metallic aftertaste. They usually disappear after 2-4 weeks after surgery.
Retroperspekt analysis, made in the United States based on data from 2002-2008, showed that the majority of reported complaints associated with ear piercing in the mouth related to infection around the ear tag and mechanical injuries. Most of them occurred within the first month after surgery. The most serious consequence of ear tagging were episodes of dyspnoea due to swelling of the tongue caused by infection or inflammation.
After the earring treatment, you should use a cool, liquid diet and apply cool compresses from the outside (to reduce swelling) for the first 24 hours. From the second day after surgery, the mouth should be rinsed with a warm aseptic solution or a salt solution. For some time, you should also refrain from smoking cigarettes, drinking alcohol and caffeinated beverages. It is also recommended to limit speaking, chewing gum and tobacco, not chewing on jewelery and not pulling the earring.
What can happen then?
After a few weeks from making an ear tag in the mouth, it is possible to continue to have problems with the articulation of words, swallowing and chewing. Sometimes, unpleasant galvanic currents appear in the mouth, created between a metal earring and metal dental fillings. However, a bigger problem is the changes in the gums and teeth, the build-up of plaque and tartar on the ear tag and the enlargement of the hole in which the earring is placed.
Gingival recess near the tag is observed even when the patient cares for oral hygiene, has no tartar and bacterial plaque. Studies have shown that having an earring in the middle part of the lower lip is associated with a 7.5-fold increase in the risk of gum recession than in people who do not have a piercing in their mouths. And the longer the earring in the mouth was, the more serious the changes were. When the earring is made on the tongue, the recession of the gums is observed for the lower teeth from the tongue side. Changes in the gums are associated with changes in the bite in the lower jaw, and sometimes even with loosening of the teeth.
Earrings can also contribute to the formation of cavities in the hard tissues of the teeth, i.e. for enamel splinters, broken nodules of teeth or abrasion. These damages arise mainly as a result of biting on the earring - whether during playing it or during speaking or eating.Such tooth defects have between 13 and 31 percent of patients with oral ear tags.
It is worth noting, however, that the better the hygiene of the mouth and the ear tag itself, the lower the chance of infection (associated with tissue necrosis, abscess, infective endocarditis, salivary gland inflammation). With the earring in your mouth you need to remember not only about brushing teeth, but also jewelery - pulling it out, washing it with a toothbrush and rinsing with aseptic liquid every day.
Based:
K. Kaczor, A. Zawadzka, P. Rożniatowski, E. Korporowicz, D. Olczak-Kowalczyk, Complications of piercing in the oral cavity - a review of the literature. Nowa Stomatologia 4/2016, pp. 253-261
