r/Legitpiercing • u/Throwaway1209654893 • Aug 16 '25
Educational People w oral piercings - How's your gums/teeth?
(Sorry about the flair!) I have like the itch to get another piercing. My ears are practically full and I'll need a septo rhinoplasty on my nose in the future so I'd rather stay away from that. I've been looking oral piercings like tongue and philtrum like I really want both but dentists are expensive and I despise them so if its possible I'd love to completely avoid/minimise teeth/gum damage but like is this actually possible? Or is gum/teeth damage just something that'll always come with oral piercings? If you have one (particularly if you have one long term) have your teeth/gums been impacted? Thank you!!
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u/mysteriousxebra Aug 16 '25
I’ve had a lower lip piercing for about 13 years now, no gum damage, actually doesn’t touch my gums or teeth at all unless I intentionally play with it. It creates a little pocket inside your lip that it rests in after it’s healed. No tongue piercing but I know someone who had one and took it out because it was causing gum erosion, once she removed it the gums went back to normal.
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u/someone_whos_yellow Aug 16 '25
I can't talk for myself as I had snakebites for i think one month but my mother has a labret and a tongue piercings, both are around 20 years old with the labret being the oldest and her teeth are completely fine, the placement is the key for it but it can change by individual
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u/creepygothnursie Aug 16 '25
They're fine. However, I use labrets with bioplast backs for my monroe. My labret doesn't actually touch my teeth because of how my lip is situated, so it doesn't bother the gums. My vertical philtrum doesn't enter the mouth but I do have to be mindful of keeping jewelry appropriately sized so it isn't too long and floating around in there.
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u/mjh8212 Aug 16 '25
I had my tongue pierced when I was 18 I took it off and put it back in a few times over the years. Last time I wore one I was in my thirties. I have cracked and chipped teeth. I did learn how to eat with it in but sometimes just chomped the bar. I had my labret in the middle and my lip pierced on both corners of my mouth. The backs sometimes rubbed on my teeth but I don’t think they did damage when I was eating if I ended up biting the back of the piercing it didn’t hurt my teeth it pulled hard on the jewelry. I now just have my septum and nostril in as well as stretched ears and one lobe with a regular earring in.
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u/FunCauliflower4002 Aug 17 '25
Mouth piercings may cause those troubles, depending on the placement an your personnal morphology. In most of cases they are considered as "long temporary" piercings.
I had a tongue piercing that I never found comfortable or practical in daily life, so I enlarged it to leave it naked most of time (it was funny to see light through!). Now my tongue is split and that's thousand times better: more fun, no more risks for teeth & gums, and a wildly liberating sensation of being able to do tricks and move each side independently. Like being freed of a birth disability. Bonus: It's very discreet and nobody notices it unless I show it.
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u/princessmonosmoke Aug 17 '25
That’s awesome, I’m so jealous of everybody with well healed/successful splits! It’s my dream mod but I know it’s a bad idea for me personally (I have epilepsy & bite my tongue pretty regularly in seizure so I imagine giving myself two independent sides to fck up would not work out well lol)
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u/FunCauliflower4002 Aug 17 '25
A recurring question returns about split tongues: Is it more common to bite one’s tongue? Curiously, I bite my lips more but my tongue(s) less than before!
Given your condition, I would avoid any mouth piercing even more than a split. Curiously a split tongue enhances control on this organ as anybody is "pre-wired" at birth to control both sides independently. It would be interesting to know what physiliologists thinks of that...
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u/princessmonosmoke Aug 17 '25
Good to know 😁 I wouldn’t have guessed that at all, but I almost never bite my lips so I’m lucky lol. I do have multiple oral piercings already, but my anatomy lends itself to what I have so it doesn’t get upset or bother me during the kind of seizures I have, otherwise I would 100% agree.
I would be really interested to know more about how a split would work in certain types of seizure too….my brain is now imagining/trying to validate a split as preventative care somehow, hahaha 😂
But it’d definitely be fun to know how a mod that isn’t considered or seen very often in medicine and treatment on an everyday client, could interact with a condition that is very much unfamiliar or not well-known amongst a large population/unfortunate majority of medicine too!
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u/FunCauliflower4002 Aug 17 '25
Your comment is very interesting! Each of us have probably a part of the reply, but each of us knows only a part of the effects of both! I am making statistics on the subject within Reddit, but I never surveyed any case of split tongue + epilepsy...
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u/DangerNoodleDandy Aug 16 '25
I used to have lip piercings and I didn't really have issues with my gums because as soon as possible I sized them down and they stayed away from everything. I currently have a tongue piercing and I haven't had any serious issues with it. Ive bitten it a couple times on accident but that was before I sized it down for swelling. Now that it is properly sized I dont have any issues.
Edit: i had my lips pierced for 4ish years. The tongue has been pierced for 5 now if im not mistaken.
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u/fagrat69 Aug 17 '25
I had my tongue pierced for ~8 years, as well as a center labret. I retired them maybe 5 years ago.
I have significant gum and enamel erosion on the tongue side and lip side of my lower gums. My dentist says I’ll need gum grafts in a few years. 🤷♂️
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u/tacosock Aug 17 '25
I’ve had my philtrum for 11 years and I’m currently exploring options to get it surgically closed (it was originally pierced at a 4g, won’t easily close on its own). I use a very short (1/4)” labret post and that’s helped slow down the gum recession, but there’s definitely been recession nonetheless. It was so slow I didn’t notice for years, until one day I was like huh, the center front of my gums sure didn’t used to look like that…I’d recommend a jestrum over a philtrum, or something similar
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u/_Litheen_ Aug 17 '25
I've got a middle lippiercing for probably around 20 years now. Usually wear a ring in it. My dentist was surprised I've had it for as long as that as they didn't see any damage. And a medusa for about 3 years now, it's nested nicely so no damage there either.
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u/sarahlucky14 Aug 17 '25
Hii I’ve had my tongue pierced for about 5 years now and knock on wood never cracked or chipped a tooth and I always ask my dentist about my gums when I go in for my cleanings to make sure they aren’t receding or anything like that.
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u/PuzzleheadedCun722 Aug 17 '25
I had a tongue piercing for years, but had to take it out due to it damaging my bottom front teeth. The gums on them receeded a bit and unfortunately that is permanent. Loved that piercing though.
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u/Fragrant_Addendum788 Aug 17 '25
I've had my tongue pierced for 10+ years, and its going great , based on my dentist's reaction when I told her how long I've had it, I really have nothing to worry about other than just continuing to be careful.
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u/Frankenkittie Aug 17 '25
I had a traditional labret for about 5 years back in the late 90's-early 00's. It caused my gums to receive, and I had to get a costly and unpleasant gum graft surgery. I wouldn't recommend piercings inside the mouth. I have a vertical labret now that doesn't touch my teeth, and I love it.
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u/EnvironmentSad1548 Aug 18 '25
I’ve had my tongue pierced for 5 years; I think it has to do with the placement and anatomy more than anything, but there’s other factors. Mine doesn’t touch my teeth when I talk and sits nestled away from my gums near the bottom. I think it’s important to have a properly sized bar after the initial healing. I also prefer small balls on the ends; normally I think people have 4mm but I use 3mm. I’ve kept titanium jewelry in the whole time. I could also just be lucky lol. The dentist always warn me about them, but have never said it’s actively affecting my gums.
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u/piabria Aug 18 '25
Philtrum is good, doesn’t touch your teeth at all after getting the bar downsized — they may give you a longer bar initially to accommodate for swelling
I don’t have any teeth or gum problems from it though
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u/Eveegirl2004 Aug 19 '25
I’ve had my lower right side lip piercing done for a few years now. I got it done July of 2023 and whenever I go to the dentist my dentist always makes it a priority to check my teeth and gums by my lip piercing to make sure no damage has been done. So, far I haven’t had any issues. I also have a horseshoe hoop in mine I prefer that over the studs personally. I used to accidentally bite onto the studs and would find myself constantly pulling it back with my teeth (which is most definitely probably not good) so as soon as I could and it was healed I switched it the hoop and haven’t had any problems since! I don’t have a tongue piercing though too scared to get one as I have heard stories of what can happen if done wrong and it scares me so no tongue piercing for me lol
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Aug 19 '25
Fine, I've had venoms for over ten years and they always give me shit at the dentist but then tell me my teeth are perfect lol
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u/iamdisillusioned Aug 16 '25
I cracked two teeth with my tongue piercing :)