Here is one of the best articles that deals about piercing, this time is tongue piercing. Many would say that having a tongue pierced, your a pure rebel. Well, making yourself a rebel in the eyes of everyone, doesnt require piercing but through attitude and style. Talking about attitude and style! Yeah, tongue piercing is one of the best shortcuts like Tattooing your body. Are there Pros and Cons with this Tongue piercing thing? Yes ofcourse and lots of it. Let's start!

Here is a story of a girl having it done:

got it done when i was 14 (with an altered school id) and i am now 22... and it was sorta outdated even then... but i didnt care. The other thing is it totally screws up your teeth and your teeth are importanntttttt. I ended up taking mine out when i was about 17... and my mom was nice enough to pay for me to have some cosmetic stuff done on my teeth (expensivee)... so no more tongue rings for me. I hate the way it looks when youre teeth are chipped... and trust me... they'll get chipped even with a plastic barbell. Its not worth it... and theyre not even cool anymore (when i see girls with them i think theyre gross looking... like go back to the 90s and put your tongue back in your mouth stop showing off) i hate girls who stick out their tongues JUST to show off their tongue rings... although i did it too, but i have an excuse because i was a dumb teenaged girl... trust me... youll get sick of it fast.

Tongue piercings can eventually destroy your front teeth from the tongue bar continuously hitting or rubbing up against your front teeth. The bars eventually wear away the enamel on your teeth, creating additional problems associated with your teeth, including massive pain. Once the enamel is gone, the dentinal tubules (microscopic "holes" in the teeth) are exposed, which creates massive pain, on the same order of a massive toothache when a cavity is there. This in turn, will create the need for further dental care, which could include anything from crowns (caps) to partial dentures to implants.

The only pro, besides them looking nice, is that the mouth is one of the fastest healing parts of the body. So, a tongue piercing will heal faster than say, a nose piercing, but that is only if the area does not get infected. If I were you, I would not get it, but like I said before, it is strictly your personal preference. Oh, and by the way, I think a teen 18 or older should be the only ones allowed to get tongue piercings, unless parental consent is given. I hope my little post has helped you make a decision.

According to James Jones article about tongue piercing, that If you are thinking about it, you are doing the right thing by researching the pros and cons first. Tongue piercings are very popular for a myriad of reasons... be it for shock value, appearance, or pleasure enhancement (to name only a few reasons). If you are considering a tongue piercing - included but not limited to piercing of the tongue, tongue web, or uvula - there are several important factors you must consider before getting pierced.

Before we delve into the universal risks, each piercing has its own set of aftercare and precautions to be aware of. The most common oral piercing is of course the tongue piercing, which to a professional piercer is one of the easiest piercings to perform. Usually performed directly through the center of the tongue (although the tongue can be pierced in other places - but talk to your piercer first!) and the jewelry of choice is always a barbell. The barbell jewelry is used because tongue piercings will become swollen for a couple days to a week after the initial piercing, and the barbell can accommodate the swelling. After a period of 4-6 weeks, the jewelry can be replaced.

After a tongue piercing, it is STRONGLY advised not to smoke, engage in oral sex, or kiss. Proper cleaning should be done frequently, because the mouth is full of bacteria. Although saliva is the body's natural way of combating harmful bacteria, with an open wound such as a piercing, the odds of infection do increase. With an open wound such as a tongue piercing, the risk of diseases being transferred is greater too , including the Hepatitis strains and HIV. Heed the advice given to you by your piercer to prevent serious and unhealthy scenarios!

The tongue web, formerly called the frenulum linguae, is located beneath the tongue. This is a piercing that is NOT applicable to everyone - some people do not have tongue webs pronounced enough to pierce! Many piercer refuse to do this piercing, not because of any extraordinary risks per say, but because most people do not clean their tongue web piercing frequently enough (which leads to plaque build up) or can't keep their tongue on the roof of their mouth during the piercing. If you do get this piercing, clean it regularly as it is an open wound in the mouth and therefore prone to infection. If the piercing is not deep enough, the body will "reject" or "push out" the piercing - not particularly harmful, but unpleasant and should be avoided all the same.

Here's a cool advice:

According to the American Dental Association (ADA), tongue piercing typically causes:

• pain
• inflammation
• infection
• greater saliva production

Less common side effects include:

• injury or shrinkage of gums
• damage to teeth, fillings, and other dental work
• difficulty chewing or swallowing
• prolonged blood loss immediately after procedure
• possibility of disease transmission, such as hepatitis

No systematic research has been done on the after effects of tongue art, so it's impossible to say how likely it is that any one person will experience any of these problems. However, the ADA officially does not support piercing in or around the mouth because of the potential for serious side effects.

If you do decide to get your tongue adorned, considering that body art studios are unregulated by most states, check them out carefully, paying particular attention to the following safer piercing guidelines:

• the business is licensed and established, with separate clean, tidy, and well lit rooms for procedures
• trained and experienced piercers use new gloves and a fresh disposable needle for each procedure (never go to a place that uses piercing guns — they are more difficult to clean and inflict greater tissue damage)
• an autoclave and ultrasonic cleanser for sterilizing instruments are on the premises
• all of your questions and concerns are answered openly and directly. If you're unsatisfied or uncomfortable with the answers, or can't get them at all, go somewhere else.

Tongues are typically pierced by running a needle through the front third of the tongue, from top to bottom (taking care to avoid the blood vessels on the underside of the tongue), usually without an anesthetic. A barbell shaped piece of jewelry is then inserted through the hole created by the needle. The jewelry, which is longer than usual to accommodate swelling, must be made of one of the following materials:

• surgical stainless steel
• titanium
• 14- or 18-karat solid gold
• niobium

Aftercare for the 4 - 6 weeks it usually takes tongue piercings to heal is complicated. Key aspects include:

• cleansing the mouth at least a dozen times a day with a diluted mouthwash for one minute, including always rinsing after eating, smoking, and drinking. Avoid using hydrogen peroxide and mouthwashes that are high in alcohol.
• washing hands before touching the piercing (contacting it as little as possible, too)
• sticking to a soft foods diet for the first week after the procedure
• not having any kind of oral sex activity and open mouth kissing for 4 - 6 weeks
• not applying any antibiotics to the site because the ointments, creams, or gels are hard to remove from piercings, which could cause microorganisms to become trapped within them. Instead, a liquid antiseptic oral cleanser used twice a day, on both sides of the piercing, for about a couple of weeks is often recommended.
• sucking on some ice or drinking ice water, which can help with the swelling
• using a warm, low sea salt concentration solution to soak piercings
• going to a health care provider immediately if there's:
  • abnormal or unusual appearance features, such as redness or inflammation that go beyond a quarter-of-an-inch circumference from the piercing
  • thick fluid oozing from the site that's yellow-green in color
  • extensive bleeding
  • a feeling of heat or red streaks radiating from the site
  • persistent or increased tenderness, discomfort, or pain

If you remove jewelry from a piercing before it is completely healed, or when it is infected, it will close up rapidly, and more often than not result in negligible scarring. In cases of infection, it's better not to remove the barbell in order to encourage proper healing and minimize potential for problems. Piercings that are older or larger in size will get smaller, but probably will not close completely even when jewelry is left out. In these instances, scar tissue inside piercings may develop, which may look like a small indentation and feel like a bump in the skin. With time, these scars often become more supple and decrease in size.