Piercing on the Tongue is More Dangerous with Metal

Materials for piercings made of stainless steel or stainless steel and titanium are more likely to collect bacteria.

Although piercings made of metal or metal are more noticeable than those made of plastic, steel contained in the mouth also collects more bacteria, the researchers report in an upcoming issue of the Journal of Adolescent Medicine.

The research is a recent addition to a set of reports that indicate that metal piercings can cause infection, damage the gums and teeth.

Dr. Ines Kapferer from Innsbruck Medical University in Austria and his colleagues identified 68 women and 12 men, an average of 23 years old, who had tongue piercings. The researchers examined the health of the teeth and gums on each volunteer and took out the piercing material. The volunteers were then randomly assigned to use new piercings made of stainless steel, titanium, polypropylene (polymer plastic) or polytetrafluorethylene (Teflon). After two weeks, the scientists removed the piercing material and wiped the parts of the tongue, piercings and each ingredient for the piercing itself.

Tests of 80 types of bacteria related to disease or infection showed that 67 of the 80 species had accumulated substantially more in the material of piercings made of stainless steel than polymers, and 28 types of bacteria appeared more on titanium than polymers.

Many of these bacteria usually appear in the form of biofilms which are a combination of bacteria, cells, lipids, proteins, strands of sugar molecules and other substances that are inherently formed on surfaces. The researchers speculate that stainless steel surfaces are more conducive to biofilm formation than plastic.

Some biofilms are clearly known, such as dental plaque and mucus that causes wet rocks to become slippery or cover the inside of a household pipe. Biofilms provide homes and protection for bacteria that make them difficult to get rid of, said Sharukh Khajotia, a dental biomaterial scientist at the University of Oklahoma Health Center in Oklahoma City, who was not included in the research team.

"Biofilms form protection for bacteria," he said. This means that the bacteria that stay there are not easily found by antibiotics as are other free-roaming bacteria. Many studies need to be done to understand why biofilms attach better to certain surfaces than others and what factors influence biofilm formation, Khajotia said. "This is a goood frist step.'' Thus, as quote on ScienceNews (01/14/11).

In addition, tongue piercing places a person at risk for oral infections that can spread to other parts of the body, as previous research has shown. For example, oral or oral piercings have been linked to rare cases of hepatitis C, toxic shock syndrome, boils or pus in the brain, and heart infections called endocarditis. The researchers noticed that a number of bacteria found in large amounts of piercings also appeared in systemic infections.

Installation of material for piercings, rings or other objects on the tongue can also damage the teeth and gums around it. In the new study, the researchers found in their first examination of volunteers that more than one-fourth had experienced shrinkage of gum tissue behind the teeth, even at a young age. This happens where the ingredients for piercings come into contact with the gums. The average volunteer has had tongue piercings for five years. Of the 80 volunteers in this study, four of them had broken teeth. This process occurs more often with materials made of metal or metal than those made of plastic, according to previous research.