Tongue Piercings.

[[s]AINT]

 I know there is a topic already for this,
but my question is a little different.
Okay, I want to get my tongue pierced, and I know
there are many risks, but the main ones that I see are
dental damage ( teeth fractures, gum recession, etc)
And, do any of you have tongue piercings, and have
you damaged your teeth? 
Also, is it possible to lower the chance of chipped teeth
by getting different jewelry ( acrylic jewelry) or something 
like that?
And finally, do you believe it is worth it to risk the teeth
damage just to enhance your looks?  

[Lance Castle]

Okay well there are slight risks in my oppinion but most are just old wives tales or things that have been blown out of proportion.

If you get your tongue pierced you may get the urge to rattle it against your teeth. This is what the main cause of damage is. So you dont do that and your risk for it decreases greatly.

You could also get plastic jewelery. I had a plastic one in but switched it out again for a different one. No real reason just bought a new one and didnt know it wasnt plastic.

And getting it done at a good piercing place, (clean awards and such on the walls, nice and helpful staff etc...) realy helps.

And I think it is way worth it. you pay some money and a lil bit of pain and a minute or two later you have an awesome decoration to express yourself with. Plus like I said most of the problems are blown out of proportions. But it is good to know that there are problems. I see you've done at least some research on this. So just put the same or more effort into looking for a good piercing place. That should decrease chances of problems even more.

Thats my 2 cents biggrin  

[Miss Kupi]

A friend of mine has had pretty much everything pierced. He had a tongue ri ng, and had it gauged for a bit, but in the end took it out because he ate fast, and whacked his teeth around a lot.

If you're careful when you eat, it shouldn't be so bad. But there will be some damage, more than likely. It's up to you if you think it's worth it or not. 3nodding  

[Lividacious]

When getting my tongue pierced, my piercer told me that from now on my dentist would more than likely despise me, as tongue piercings are a dentist's worst nightmare. Yes, there are risks of damage, and you can in fact do things to ruin your teeth over time. These are things though that you do have control over for the most part. If your piercing is placed in a good spot, (just far up enough to see and appreciate, but not up front enough to impede your speech or have less control over it) then making sure you don't do the things you shouldn't is a bit easier. My piercer told me that wanting to play with the jewelry is going to be inevitable, but that I should really refrain from it at all. When you clack it against your teeth you risk putting minute cracks in them, which doesn't affect you immediately, but will ruin your teeth over time. It also scrapes away at your enamel. It also means you have to pay more attention when chewing your food, else you end up accidentally biting down on it (which I have done once in a great while) and biting down too hard will end up chipping your teeth (as it chipped a little bit of the inside of my molar.) >.< All in all, getting a tongue ring means becoming religious about the things your dentist tells you to do anyway that most people neglect. No playing with jewelry, impecible dental hygeine (which means brushing the jewelry on top and bottom as well, as it will also begin to form plaque if you don't) and a little more caution when you consume things. It's something you have to determine for yourself wether you think is worth it or not. Personally it is to me. 3nodding  

[Lividacious]

And um... as far as lowering risks with different jewelry is concerned, I personally wouldn't have an idea... When the piercer put my stud in, he put it in so tight that I have since not been able to budge it to take it out, and that was over half a year ago, going on a year. >.<  

[prinzessin]

You can get balls made of "dental acrylic"... I'm not sure if that would be softer on your teeth, or if it's just good quality acrylic. You might want to look in to that smile
One of my friends plays with her tongue piercing ALL the time! I can hear her clacking it against her teeth ^^;

I'm sure that if you can stand to just leave it alone and not play with it then your teeth will be okay. It shouldn't be a problem if you just leave it alone ^^; oh and downsizing definately helps! At fist you will be given a bit of a longer bar to ccomadate swelling, but after the peircing is healed (3-4 weeks) you shoudl go back to your piercer and get it replaced with a shorter one. That will decrease any risks of damage to your teeth and palate biggrin  

[trose]

Yes, it can cause damage to your teeth. But from when I spoke to my piercer about it, since it was my main concern after having to deal with braces and not wanting to go through that again, he said that if you are careful, do not play with it all the time, and change your piercing you should be fine. You have to keep the metal one in during the time it is healing, but he suggested something softer like acrylic once you are able to change it. But what it comes down to, is how often you play with it, and if you click it against your teeth.

So far nothing chipped whee  

[xXx -candy- xXx]

[s]AINT

 I know there is a topic already for this,
but my question is a little different.
Okay, I want to get my tongue pierced, and I know
there are many risks, but the main ones that I see are
dental damage ( teeth fractures, gum recession, etc)
And, do any of you have tongue piercings, and have
you damaged your teeth? 
Also, is it possible to lower the chance of chipped teeth
by getting different jewelry ( acrylic jewelry) or something 
like that?
And finally, do you believe it is worth it to risk the teeth
damage just to enhance your looks?

well if you were metal tongue studs then whiles your sleeping or eating they can harm your teeth but if you were it while your just going around it shouldnt hurt your teeth i dont know about the gums tho never herd of nyones gums getting hurt cuz of it i got my tongue peirced and my dentist just said to were like plastic balls instead of metal ones when you eat or sleep  

[Warninglv100]

xXx -candy- xXx

[s]AINT

 I know there is a topic already for this,
but my question is a little different.
Okay, I want to get my tongue pierced, and I know
there are many risks, but the main ones that I see are
dental damage ( teeth fractures, gum recession, etc)
And, do any of you have tongue piercings, and have
you damaged your teeth? 
Also, is it possible to lower the chance of chipped teeth
by getting different jewelry ( acrylic jewelry) or something 
like that?
And finally, do you believe it is worth it to risk the teeth
damage just to enhance your looks?

well if you were metal tongue studs then whiles your sleeping or eating they can harm your teeth but if you were it while your just going around it shouldnt hurt your teeth i dont know about the gums tho never herd of nyones gums getting hurt cuz of it i got my tongue peirced and my dentist just said to were like plastic balls instead of metal ones when you eat or sleep

Gum recession is cause by things rubbing against the gums (and sometimes it just happens too). What happens is the gum line around your teeth gets lower and wore away, so it's getting closer to exposing the roots of your teeth. I'd say it's more likely to happen with labret piercings though, but the balls on the tongue barbell could rub the inside gums causing recession. It won't matter what jewelry you have in, anything harder than the gums can cause it.  

[October Dawn]

After my piercing healed I got acrylic balls to minimize the damage to my teeth. I think tooth damage is most likely if you're one to play with your tongue ring (like myself) by doing things likescraping it against the back of your teeth to make that clicking sound.  

[fail`d]

I've had my tongue pierced for 8 months, and I did experience some gum recession on the bottom around month 3. It's not extreme, and it's stopped, but it still happened. :/
I think it's worth it. The recession doesn't bother me and hasn't caused any major problems.