Mouth JewelryIts Not As Simple As You Think

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Mouth Jewelry-Its Not As Simple As You Think!
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History

• The ancient Aztecs, Mayans, and tribes of the
  American Northwest pierced their tongues
• Religious ritual performed by shamen and priests
• Purpose to communicate with the Gods

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History cont.

• Recent History
• Rise of popularity in the 1970s
• Transition of piercing into the mainstream
• Piercing trends glamorized in the media

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Newest Oral Fad
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Dental Grillz

• Customized teeth caps made of precious metals and
  jewels
• Cost for a full set-hundreds to thousands of
  dollars
• Styles can be snapped onto the teeth like an
  orthodontic retainer
• Others are permanently bonded to the teeth
• Made popular by rappers such as Nelly

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Tongue Splitting

• The tongue is cut down the middle, and is induced
  to heal in that state, leaving a forked tongue
• Side effects can include serious infection with
  damage to speech and taste, or worse, since there
  are many blood vessels in the tongue, severe
  bleeding can cause enough blood loss that a
  person could die

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Oral Piercing
Piercing is becoming a more prevalent form of
body art and self-expression in todays society
Oral Piercing has been implicated in a number of
adverse oral and systemic conditions
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Locations

• Cheek
• Frenum
• Lips
• Tongue
• Uvula

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Types
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Lip Piercing

• The lips aren't as vascular as the tongue, so
  there's probably less chance of major infection. 
  But they're even more likely to rub the gum
  tissue away from your tooth and necessitate gum
  surgery to avoid losing the tooth. Gum surgery
  beats brain surgery, but do you really want
  either? 

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Common Piercing Problems

• Common symptoms following piercing and tongue
  splitting include pain, swelling, infection and
  increased salivary flow
• Other problems include
• gum tissue injury or recession
• damage to teeth and fillings
• interference with speech and eating
• scar-tissue formation
• development of metal allergies

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Bleeding and Swelling

• The tongue contains large blood vessels, and
  you're in trouble if one of them is perforated.
  You could end up having to have the vessel closed
  surgically in hospital
• Swelling is a common symptom experienced after
  oral piercing.  Since the tongue is in constant
  motion it can slow and complicate the healing
  process 

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Infection!

• Because your mouth contains millions of bacteria,
  infection is a common complication of oral
  piercing
• Bacteria then cause the floor of the mouth to
  rapidly swell, which can block the airway or
  prevent the swallowing of saliva 

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Damage to Hard and Soft Tissues

• Damage to teeth
• Chip/crack tooth
• Can damage restorations and fixed porcelain
  prostheses

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Gum Recession
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Damage to Hard and Soft Tissues

• Scar-tissue formation
• Keloids form on both the top and bottom of tongue

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More serious complications

• Oral infections can lead to infections in other
  parts of the body. Your mouth has high levels of
  bacteria. When you puncture any part of the oral
  cavity, this bacteria may find its way into your
  bloodstream. Bacteria can reach your heart and
  cause a variety of health problems
• This is called bacterial endocarditis

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Bacterial Endocarditis

• Bacterial endocarditis is an infection of the
  heart's inner lining (endocardium) or the heart
  valves. This can damage or even destroy your
  heart valves
• This presents a risk for people who have cardiac
  abnormalities

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Bacterial Endocarditis

• A person who develops bacterial endocarditis can
  potentially die from heart complications

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Brain Encephalitis

• The picture on the right was a girl who almost
  died from a brain abscess following a tongue
  piercing. She had part of her skull removed to
  relieve pressure caused by the infection. She can
  still feel the soft spot where the skull is
  missing

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Hepatitis or HIV?

• Unsterile instruments are an easy way to spread
  these and other infections
• Policy of the American Academy of Pediatric
  Dentistry (AAPD)-opposes the practice of piercing
  intraoral and perioral tissues

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Impairs Normal Oral Functions

• Oral jewelry can
• Impede the ability to pronounce words clearly
• Cause problems with chewing
• Cause problems with swallowing food
• Stimulate excessive saliva production
• Some metal alloys can cause allergic contact
  dermatitis
• Interfere with the oral health evaluation
• Jewelry in the mouth can block the transmission
• of X-rays so abnormalities like cysts,
• or abscesses can be seen
• National Institutes of Health has identified
• piercing as possible route for transmission
• of hepatitis

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Do plastic barbells solve the problem? No. They
reduce but don't eliminate the trauma to teeth
and gums, and they don't reduce the risk of
infection

• Questions?