Resumo

FRAGELLI, Camila Maria Bullio; CAMPOS, Juliana Alvares Duarte Bonini  e  GASPAR, Ana Maria Minarelli. Considerations regarding the use of tongue piercing. RGO, Rev. gaúch. odontol. (Online) [online]. 2010, vol.58, n.4, pp. 451-455. ISSN 1981-8637.

OBJECTIVE: Investigated the consequences of tongue piercing in individuals from the city of Araraquara, São Paulo, Brazil. METHODS: In Araraquara there are five piercing shops, but only two agreed to help the research by providing the contact information of customers who had had their tongues pierced. These customers were contacted by telephone. By the end of the research, the sample consisted of 100 individuals from both genders aged 18 years or more. Not all of them still had their tongue piercing. A form with six objective questions was used to collect information. The information was then analyzed by descriptive statistics. RESULTS: From the 100 participants, 77 had been using tongue piercing for more than 6 months. It took less than 4 months for the tongue to heal. Sixty-eight individuals used oral rinses and of these, 19 also used painkillers. Only 11 individuals did not present symptoms after the first weeks using the piercing. On the other hand, 56 individuals reported complications such as increased salivation, speaking difficulties, gingival or mucosal traumas, dental fractures and eating difficulties. CONCLUSION: All these tongue-piercing complications justify efforts to inform the youth about the use of piercing in the oral cavity.

Palavras-chave : Complications; Body piercing; Oral health.