It may the choice of a generation, but for today’s teenagers lip and tongue piercing could have implications to their oral health later in life according to Dr Sabrina Manickam, Senior Lecturer in Dentistry at Charles Sturt University (CSU).

 

As healthcare professionals providing dental services to children, adolescents and teenagers in the public sector thoughout Australia, dental therapists have seen trauma caused by lip and tongue piercing.

 

“If you have your lip or tongue pierced, and have inserted a stud, you are risking painful damage to your teeth such as fractures which create ongoing dental treatment commitments which can be very expensive,” Western NSW dental therapist Lynne Turner said.

“Tongue piercing carries a risk of injury to the vital structures such as the tongue, as it is full of muscle fibres, blood vessels, nerves and taste buds so it’s important to contact your dentist before having oral piercing done so you are given enough information about future complications to make an informed decision.”

 

Dr Manickam agrees.

 

“Piercing can result in serious problems,” she said. “The mouth is teeming with bacteria, which cause no harm unless they get into deeper tissues. Piercing allows these bacteria to penetrate to the inner tissues of the tongue, where they have the potential to cause serious infections.”

The Australian Dental Association (ADA) is quick to shun this popular adornment. The ADA website lists such horror stories as, “studs dislodging and pins becoming ‘lost’ inside the tongue, requiring oral surgery to retrieve them”.

 

The website states, “The ADA has warned the public on a number of occasions of the dangers of tongue piercing. It is of interest to note that recently the American Dental Association, representing 143 000 members, cited oral piercing as a public health hazard.”

 

New CSU degree courses in oral health therapy and hygiene and dentistry will ensure more trained professionals in the dentistry industry are available to rural and remote areas.

 

“It’s important that teenagers can get access to dentists and dental therapists if they are going to make informed decisions about piercing,” Dr Manickam said. “Our graduates will be thoroughly trained to give teenagers and parents adequate information on the importance of oral hygiene.”

 

CSU’s three year, Bachelor of Oral Health (Therapy/Hygiene) course will have a strong focus on core biomedical and oral sciences in the first two years and continue throughout the curriculum, while students also commence their clinical experience and hand skills development in the first year. The hand skills development will occur using state-of-the-art simulation equipment in new purpose built facilities at CSU.

 

In years two and three, the course focuses on understanding the medical, dental, social and community context of clinical practice in dental hygiene or dental therapy. Students will undertake intense clinical activities and there will be the opportunity for students to be involved in patient care at a variety of sites - at CSU and in the community, in rural and metropolitan areas - to gain quality professional experience.