Oral and facial piercing: associated complications and clinical repercussion

A selection of abstracts of clinically relevant papers from other journals. The abstracts on this page have been chosen and edited by John R. Radford.

Abstract

Oral piercings were associated with more pain and swelling than facial piercings.

Main

Garcia-Pola MJ, Garcia-Martin JM et al. Quintessence Int. 2008; 39: 51–59

Complications associated with oral and facial piercings range from the banal to those that are life-threatening. The aim of this cross-sectional study, carried out on over 2,000 consecutive dental patients attending a general dental practice in Oliveido, Spain (non-probability sample), was to establish the prevalence of piercings and whether this practice results in serious complications. Excluding piercing of ear-lobes in women, 83 of these patients (3.6%) had piercings of which over 80% were placed in a tattoo studio. Almost 60% reported local complications, including those frequently cited in the literature. Pain and swelling were more significantly associated with oral, compared with facial sites. No serious complications were reported in this study.