Piercing and forked tongue

Oral piercings may include different locations as lips, cheeks, braces and more frequent location, language.

The tongue piercing and a Christmas ornament with (piercing) is a widespread practice in the Western world since the 70s, especially in young people, although, in other tribal cultures, such as Africa, Asia or South America, It has been performed for centuries.

This practice is not without risk for oral health.

During and immediately after placement, there is a high risk of pain and inflammation by the technique used. Also, the risk of infection is very high due to the large number and variety of bacteria (over 700 species) exists in the mouth, and bleeding produced during drilling and that language is a vascularized tissue. This infection can be local or through contact with blood, spread through the bloodstream, and even secondary infection occurs over time (it has been identified piercing as a possible vector for blood-borne viral infections such as hepatitis B, C, D and G).There is also the possibility that allergies occur by contact with the metal piercing.

Over time, other risks appear to carry the tongue piercing, such as tooth fractures, abrasions, cracks and other damage to teeth and gingival recession. The periodontal damage occurs by repeated contact with keratinized tissue piercing. It is also possible that these people experience changes in speech and chewing, and increased salivary flow. In addition, there is a risk of obstruction of the airways, either by piercing and detachment of accidental ingestion or tongue soreness.

Finally, persons with tongue piercings can suffer cuts in the language and have even been reports of the occurrence of the forked tongue.

The forked tongue, ie, division or branch of the tongue, is one of the characteristics of snakes and, in some cases, has been observed in people either (rare) or intervention congenital disorders the human being.

Since the mid-90s (it is believed that the first case dates back to 1996 in Italy) there is a way of body art in the human being who is at the fork of the tongue, from the central portion to the tip. Proponents of this form of expression argue that, in addition to aesthetic changes, benefits are obtained on the sexual plane. Eventually, the two resulting halves could get to move independently.

The division of the tongue can be performed by different methods, the use of a laser by an oral surgeon the most recommended, as it will be more capable and trained to solve the complications that may arise while reducing problems that can occur with other methods such as infections. However, rejection of surgeons to perform this intervention can make people opt for other, less reliable techniques, such as the use of scalpels or tie-off technique.

The procedure for obtaining the forked tongue presents some of the same risks as for the placement of oral piercings, by involving the same organ, such as pain, swelling, bleeding and infection, increased risk when the procedure is not performed by a surgeon and under aseptic conditions. This results in more infections and difficulty in controlling bleeding and inflammation.

The tongue is involved, inter alia, in speech, so hopefully impaired language will result in an impaired speech, difficulty may occur to pronounce certain sounds. There may also be a change in taste perception, as in the language are the taste buds.

Known risks, it is up to each person to make such interventions, although legislation in some countries prohibiting it.