Midline diastema caused by tongue piercing.

becoming more and more common. In one study of college students seen at the Mayo Clinic, 10 of 218 males (4%) and 37 of 228 females (16%) had tongue piercings.1 About half of these students had allowed their tongue piercings to close over time. The study also found that 17% of all body piercings were associated with complications ranging from insignificant to life­threatening. Another study of oral piercings, conducted among high­school students in Buffalo, New York, report­ ed that 75% of the students played with their piercings.2 Our clinic treated a woman with a pierced tongue who habitually placed the metallic, barbell­ shaped piercing stud between the maxillary central incisors, resulting in a midline diastema between teeth that had previously been well aligned orthodontically.