bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

sponsorType

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Don't read this until you've had your breakfast.

Why? Because it's all about tongue piercing - and all the things you'd probably rather  not know about it. Or perhaps  I should say, all the things teenagers would rather their parents didn't know about it.

Tongue piercing is possibly the ultimate badge of the fashion victim. Anyone who likes eating, drinking, keeping their own teeth and having breath that won't knock out an army wouldn't ever get their tongue pierced.

But even though tongue  studs break your teeth, make your breath smell awful and  wear out your gums, they've become so popular that the wearers can't even be considered rebels any more.

So many young adults are wearing them that dental schools are  researching the effects, and dental hygienists are giving courses  in how to keep them clean. And there are reports of nasty complications, as well.

There was the young man whose stud ended up splitting his tongue in two parts.  It might have worked for a 70s' punk band, but the boy was  psychologically traumatised, according to a case report published in this month's British Dental Journal.

Then, there was the woman whose tongue and throat swelled so much she couldn't breathe and had to be admitted to intensive care. In another case, the tongue swelled so much  that the stud  became 'encased' in the tongue tissue and had to be surgically removed.

Although most people who get their tongues pierced live to tell the tale, few get away with  no complications, according to  a US study by the Loma Linda University School of Dentistry and Ohio State University College of Dentistry.

The study examined the teeth of 52 young adults with pierced tongues and found that 50 per cent of those who wore long-stemmed barbells - the studs that stick up - for two or more years had gum recession.

Why does this matter? Gum recession is the beginning of long-term gum and tooth disease that  leads to root damage, infection and tooth loss. The long-stemmed barbells knock against the gums when the tongue  moves, causing  trauma and chronic disease.

And although it was the long-stemmed barbell studs that caused this, the other variety - short-stemmed barbells - cause another  problem called chipping. Forty-seven per cent of young adults who had been wearing any kind of tongue stud for more than four years had chipped teeth, but this problem was particularly common in people with short-stemmed barbells.  Dentists believe tooth chipping is caused by habitual biting on the tongue stud.

Telling your teenager that tongue piercing is a revolting and painful procedure is unlikely to deter him or her. Because that's the point. It's just not cool if it doesn't hurt and give your parents the horrors.

However, try showing them  the description of the methods used I've taken from a course given at Marquette University  in the US by dental hygienists Margaret J. Fehrenbach  and Lori Baker-Eveleth:

'The oral piercing procedure is usually carried out by unlicensed operators in a piercing establishment.

'A perforation is made through the tongue with a wide-bore needle  contained inside a plastic sheath.  It's important to note that it's painful to have the tongue pierced since no local anaesthesia is used.

'A temporary device that  is longer than its permanent counterpart is inserted to  allow for the immediate and increasing swelling that occurs over the three- to five-week healing period.

'The permanent stainless steel length or jewellery is placed with one attached stud and the other stud screwed in with the healed tongue tissue between.

'The final device is then worn constantly. Failure to wear the device allows the tissue to fully heal causing the perforation in the tongue to close over.'

If they still  want to go ahead with it after they've read that, make sure they go somewhere  the instruments are sterilised with an autoclave,  the operator uses disposable gloves and  the stud comes in an unopened, sterile bag.



Tongue-tied