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BODY PIERCING 2 PAGE 2 BY JENNIFER NELSON © Copyright 1999 by Parents' Press Oral piercing, the practice of inserting adornments in the tongue (most common site), lips, cheeks or a combination of oral sites would be obsolete if it rested solely in the hands of the American Dental Association. Citing oral piercing as a public health hazard, the ADA passed a resolution opposing the practice recently at its annual session, held in San Francisco. "The risk of the procedure includes pain, infection, scarring, a permanent hole or semi-permanent hole, and social stigma," says Robin Alexander, a dermatologist at UC Davis Medical Center. "And sometimes it's difficult to get a job when you have a piercing, especially a visible piercing on the face or the tongue." Ben Graham, an 18-year-old high school senior in Moscow, Idaho, has a 4.0 GPA. He is student body vice president, participates on the soccer and wrestling teams, and doesn't drink or smoke. Ben is about to embark on an oral piercing adventure. "I'm going to pierce my tongue this summer after school gets out as a reward for myself," he says. His mother has reservations about the piercing being distracting to people. But Ben says, "If I have to take it out for a job interview or something, it's not the end of the world. I'm tired of the stereotypes that get laid on my friends who have body piercing or dyed hair, and I guess I want to shove it in everyone's face that how you look has nothing to do with anything." During tongue piercing a needle is used to insert a barbell-shaped piece of jewelry through the tongue midline. Symptoms following a piercing may include pain, swelling, infection, and increased salivary flow. Healing requires four to six weeks, in the absence of complications. There is no anesthesia during the procedure. The National Institutes of Health have identified oral piercing as a possible conveyance for blood-borne hepatitis transmission. "To have a needle ­ clean or dirty ­ stuck through a vascular part of your body in that way, the risk of disease has to be immense," says Dr. Timothy Rose, president of the ADA. Other problems associated with oral piercing include tooth trauma, interference with chewing and speaking, hypersensitivity to metals, foreign debris in the piercing site, allergic reactions, altered taste buds, and breathing difficulties due to swallowing the adornment. The ADA's resolution calls for ongoing review of scientific literature on oral piercing and public education programs on the risks. Individuality "There are probably as many reasons for the piercing practice as there are people choosing to have it done," says Lori, the body piercer at White Tiger, a tattoo and piercing establishment in Rochester, N.Y. For some it is simply a fashion statement. Others use it to gain attention, or for its shock value. Some teens choose piercing as a statement of rebellion against society, parental values, or lifestyle practices, while others are merely exhibiting a personal preference. Valerie was a senior in high school with multiple ear piercings when she decided she would also pierce her nose and lip, says Mona Vanek, 66, of Noxon, Montana about her granddaughter. Valerie's parents were furious and fussed endlessly over it. But the biggest heartbreak, says Vanek, was her own husband's reaction. "For over two years he could hardly force himself to speak to his granddaughter," she says. "Prior to the piercing he had such a wonderful relationship with her." To Vanek's husband, it seemed an act of total disrespect to Valerie's parents and a rebellion that was intolerable. "It was a vicious cycle of emotions," remembers Vanek. Things are better today. "Although Valerie still wears them [the nose and lip rings], all of us now take the piercings for granted, along with her multicolored hairdo," says Vanek. "The body piercing, because it was a permanent hole, made all the adults feel threatened rather than view it as one more expression of her individuality." next > what can parents do?