Dental implications of oral piercing.

Piercing of the tongue and perioral regions is becoming an increasingly popular expression of body art. Dentists will be seeing more patients with these piercings and should be familiar with the potential associated oral and dental problems. This paper will discuss the lay techniques of intraoral piercing and related problems and complications derived by a questionnaire left at piercing studios in San Francisco and by clinical examination of selected patients. The data reported are a result of a review of 63 patients. Five cases illustrating the common types of oral and perioral piercing are presented.