Colonization of Candida After the Placement of a Tongue Piercing, a Case Report

The practice of piercing the body’s different areas is a commonly observed form of body modification. It implies puncturing the skin tissue resulted in an opening, in which specific jewellery or an intradermal implant could be inserted. The tongue piercing is a highly popular form of this practice, but can be followed by multiple acute and chronic complications, such as bacterial and fungal infections. Our case describes the clinical situation of a 25 year old immunocompetent woman, who sought medical help after observing tissue abnormalities, following a newly inserted tongue piercing. We identified a correctly and professionally placed tongue jewellery associated with all clinical hallmarks of oral Candidiasis. Our aim was to microbiologically identify and treat the present yeast colonies.

Tongue Piercing: a Current Trend with High-risk Effects

Oral and facial piercing as a form of body art are being observed more frequently in medical and dental practices [1]. The use of oral piercings and especially the piercing of the tongue is mainly related to a series of local complications and individuals who decide to use piercings should be aware of such complications [2]. This article presents the dental complications produced by an unusual association between a tongue piercing and tic behavior, along with the implications associated with such a practice.

Aspects of the Structure and Corrosion Resistance of Materials Used in Tongue Piercings

For centuries, piercing was an expression of art around the world and constituted a significant part of the culture and rituals of many different civilizations. This study evaluated the microstructure and the corrosion resistance in artificial saliva of two newly implantable devices used in tongue piercing. We investigated materials microstructure by optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), followed by an energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) analysis in order to determine elemental composition. The corrosion resistance was determined by linear polarization technique. The corrosion tests were performed in artificial saliva Fusayama Meyer (composition: 0.4 gl-1NaCl, 0.9 gl-1 KCl, 1 gl-1 urea, 0.69 gl-1 NaH2PO4, 0.795 gl-1 CaCl * 2H2O) with a pH = 5.2 at temperature of 37 ± 0.5°C. The materials used for these types of implants were identified as Ti-6Al-4V alloy (sample 1) and austenitic stainless steel (sample 2). From corrosion resistance evaluation point of view, sample 1 showed the most electropositive value and hence better corrosion behavior compared to sample 2, having the Ecor potential -398.24 mV but this is clearly according the chemical composition of these two metallic biomaterials.