Given the increasing popularity of oral piercing, there has been very little research about its health impact. The Journal of Adolescent Health dated November 2006 contained an article on such a study. Researchers studied 97 people with oral piercing in their tongue, lip, and cheek. The ages of the participants ranged between 13 and 35; the average age was 20. They had had the oral piercing for an average of 14 months.

The authors reported that 34 percent of the patients experienced complications, including:

• 23 with receding gums


• 13 with fractured or chipped teeth


• 14 with excess spit; 4 with bad breath


• 9 with a metallic taste in their mouth

They also reported that there appeared to be more damage from lip piercing than the other two forms of oral piercing. The findings are interesting, but caution should be used when drawing conclusions from such a small sample.

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