I see patient after patient with tongue piercings.  Although they may “look cool” I advised to all my patients to remove them.  Tongue piercings are directly related to oral problems.  The two most common adverse effects a tongue piercing may cause are periodontal defect or trauma to teeth.  It is also possible to have an infection around the piercing itself.

Below are two pictures of two different patients.  The pictures are of the lower bottom teeth, viewing from the tongue side.  The photo on the left is of a patient who has only been wearing the piercing for a few months.  The photo on the right is of a patient who has been wearing the piercing for almost 3 years.   The tooth is loosing gum/bone support and as a result of this the tooth may be lost early.  I will re-evaluate once the patient removes their piercing and the patient will need to have periodontal surgery to correct this.

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