Afraid of needles?

Piercing of the tongue and lips is frequently found in younger patients visiting the dentist’s office. Fashion vanquishes anything, even the natural fear towards the penetration of one’s soft tissues with sharp objects of considerable diameter.





Strangely enough, many of these patients still complain about being afraid of medical needles or of being pricked by them when anaesthesia is performed, and visit the dentist only when forced by an emergency situation.
It is important to underscore that many times the emergency situation is created precisely by the presence of the piercing.
Frequently enough, we see damage inflicted by the constant trauma produced by the piercing’s labial or lingual ball upon the teeth. Bone tissue and gum tissue loss are frequent around the teeth’s roots (especially seen at the level of the front lower teeth).
In this picture one can see how the root of an inferior incisor tooth has been uncovered and appears bared and surrounded by a painful inflammatory tissue, a situation difficult to correct.





We therefore want to send a warning against piercing, which can produce permanent damage leading even to the premature loss of one of several otherwise healthy teeth.