Researchers at the University at Buffalo (UB), NY, have found that a tongue piercing may cause a gap between teeth, resulting in the need for orthodontic intervention. The findings have been published in the Journal of Clinical Orthodontics.

The study involved a 26-year-old female patient who complained that a large space had developed between her upper central incisors. The patient also had a tongue piercing that held a barbell-shaped tongue stud.


Her tongue had been pierced 7 years earlier, and every day for 7 years the patient had pushed the stud between her upper front teeth, creating the space between them and, subsequently, habitually placing it in the space. Prior to the tongue piercing, the patient did not have a space between her upper front teeth. The patient provided the research team with photos that demonstrated she had no diastema prior to having her tongue pierced.

A previous UB dental school survey study of Buffalo high school students revealed that the presence of a barbell implant or stud caused a damaging habit whereby subjects pushed the metal stud up against and between their upper front teeth, a habit commonly referred to among the students as "playing."

That repeated "playing" with the stud may result in a gap as is demonstrated in the current case study, according to the researchers.

The current patient’s treatment involved a fixed appliance to push the front teeth back together.

In other studies, tongue piercing has also been associated with hemorrhage, infection, chipped and fractured teeth, trauma to the gums and, in worst cases, brain abscess, according to the UB researchers.