Dr. West's Boulder Dental Blog

If you live in the Boulder area and are considering puncturing your lip or tongue, read this:

Infection
Your mouth is full of bacteria. Any opening in the tissue carries the risk of infection. The germs from your tongue and mouth can easily get into your bloodstream. Colorado dentists and doctors are continually treating serious infections caused by oral piercings. Oral infections can be a real problem, and should be a major consideration before getting an oral piercing.

Tooth Damage
It should come as no surprise that having a piece of metal bang around in your mouth can easily chip tooth enamel. Though tooth enamel is amazingly strong, once it’s chipped or cracked, it can only be restored with artificial material. Fortunately, Gordon West DDS, Cosmetic & General Dentistry in Boulder offers many tooth restoration options such as crowns and fillings, but our advice is to avoid the problem if you can.

Prolonged Bleeding and Swelling
The blood vessels in the tongue are often damaged when the tongue is pierced, causing prolonged bleeding and possible build-up of scar tissue. In some cases, the tongue swells up enough to block the airway.

Gum Recession
A number of periodontal disease studies have shown that wearing oral jewelry is linked to periodontal disease which can result in tooth loss. Periodontal disease, or ‘gum disease’, can cause gum recession and exposes the root of your teeth, potentially causing hyper sensitivity and pain. Again, our advice is to avoid the problem right from the start.

These are just a few of the dangers. Dr. Gordon West at Gordon West DDS, Cosmetic & General Dentistry can give you more information about the risks of oral piercings. If you already have damage, call 720-862-3630 to schedule a consultation.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 20th, 2009 at 3:09 pm and is filed under Dental Health, general dentistry. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.