Tongue piercing: the effect of material on microbiological findings

Biofilms on oral piercings may serve as a bacterial reservoir and lead to systemic bacteremia or local transmission of pathogenic microbiota. The use of piercing materials which are less susceptible to biofilm accumulation could contribute to prevention of problems. The present study investigated whether there are microbiological differences in bacterial samples collected from tongue piercings made of different materials.

A total of 85 subjects with tongue piercings participated in this study. After a baseline dental examination, sterile piercings of four different materials were randomly allocated to the study subjects. After 2 weeks, microbiologic samples were collected and processed by checkerboard deoxyribonucleic acid- deoxyribonucleic acid hybridization methods.

About 28.8% of subjects reported 61 lingual recessions (1.91 ± .96 mm), whereas 5% reported tooth chipping on one tooth each. With the exception of Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans (Y4), Fusobacterium nucleatum species, and Parvimonas micra, bacteria associated with periodontitis were not commonly found in the samples from studs or piercing channels. Of the 80 bacterial species, 67 were found at significantly higher levels (p < .001) in samples from stainless steel than from polytetrafluoroethylene or polypropylene piercings.

The low bacterial counts from piercing channels suggest that having a tongue pierced would not contribute to an increased risk for oral infection. The present study demonstrated that studs made of steel might promote the development of a biofilm, whereas those made of polytetrafluoroethylene or polypropylene may be rather inert to bacterial colonization. The finding of Staphylococci on steel and titanium studs may suggest an elevated risk for complication if the piercing channel is infected.