Adolescent and Young Adult Tattooing, Piercing, and Scarification.

Tattoos, piercing, and scarification are now commonplace among adolescents and young adults. This first clinical report from the American Academy of Pediatrics on voluntary body modification will review the methods used to perform the modifications. Complications resulting from body modification methods, although not common, are discussed to provide the pediatrician with management information. Body modification will be contrasted with nonsuicidal self-injury. When available, information also is presented on societal perceptions of body modification.

[Are nail polish, artificial nails and piercings allowed outside the surgical area?Recommendations for the perioperative policy]. / Mogen nagellak, kunstnagels en piercings buiten het operatiegebied blijven zitten?

- An increasing number of patients wear nail polish, artificial nails or have piercings.- There is uncertainty about the perioperative management of these items, especially when located outside the surgical area.- In the majority of hospitals, patients are urged to remove these items preoperatively, under the assumption that they might cause problems.- Frequently, however, these items cannot be removed straightforwardly.- Nail polish and artificial nails only very rarely cause perioperative problems and therefore do not need to be removed pre-operatively.- The same applies to most piercings, except when located in or near the respiratory tract, if they have sharp endings or if they might cause problems as a result of the perioperative positioning of the patient.- Providing adequate information to the patient, knowledge about removal of these items and documentation of agreed arrangements are all important.- A national guideline concerning perioperative policy is urgently required.

Oral piercings and their dental implications: a mini review.

Oral piercing has become common in young adults in recent years. Adolescents are characterized by a compulsive tendency to distinguish themselves from the rest; differences in clothes, hairstyle, or "decorative" details are used to this effect, based on highly-diverse criteria. Dental health-care professionals need to be aware of the procedures and risks involved with oral piercings and the social and psychological reasons that lead people to engage in this practice, regardless of the risks. The present article addresses oral mutilation practices, specifically from the oral health perspective, as it is of concern to dental professionals due to the health risks and oral complications associated with such practices. The various oral ornaments, piercing sites, and their implications, orally, as well as systemically, have been discussed.

Lifestyle and nickel allergy in a Swedish adolescent population: effects of piercing, tattooing and orthodontic appliances.

The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of life-style practices in adolescents and their association with nickel allergy. Upper secondary school pupils (n = 4,376; 15-23 years) were patch-tested for nickel aller-gy, follow-ing completion of a questionnaire (answered by 6,095). Almost 86% girls and 21% of boys reported piercing. More girls (6%) than boys (3%) had a tattoo. Twenty-six percent of the girls and 18% of the boys were regular smokers. Vegetarian/vegan diets were reported by 20% of girls and by 6% of boys. Piercing, female gender, and vocational programme increased the risk of nickel allergy, whereas orthodontic appliance treat-ment prior to piercing reduced the risk of nickel allergy. Pupils in vocational programmes had the highest prevalence of nickel allergy. Lifestyle behaviours are interconnected and cluster in subgroups of adolescents. Female sex, piercing and choice of educational programme are prominent lifestyle markers. A trend shift is observed, where more girls than boys report tattooing.

Trends in oral piercing in Buffalo, New York, high schools.

The purpose of this research was to examine the trend of high school adolescents obtaining an oral piercing. A questionnaire was sent to five high schools in Buffalo, NY. Of the 508 questionnaires returned, 49 of the respondents (10%) had an oral piercing. Post-piercing occurrences included swelling, tenderness, numbness, loss of taste, bleeding and pus. Oral piercing maintenance was minimal or non-existent. Dental trauma/piercing-related injuries were common. Researchers concluded that the oral piercing trend in Buffalo, NY, high schools is small; however, students who are getting oral piercings are doing so without parental consent and often show signs of infection.

Appearance and culture: oral pathology associated with certain "fashions" (tattoos, piercings, etc.).

Humans are characterized by a compulsive tendency to distinguish themselves from the rest: differences in clothes, hairstyle or "decorative" details are used to this effect, based on highly diverse criteria. Such differentiating practices may be aimed at identification with a certain ideological group, for example, or with a concrete "fashion", and involve the use of jewelry, clothes, unusual attire, hairstyles, mutilations, etc. In this context, the present review addresses certain aspects of mutilation practices from both the general and specifically dental perspectives. Mutations imply permanent or lasting sectioning or lesions of a part of the body, and comprise skeletal deforming, dental mutilations, circumcision, ablation of the clitoris, scarification, tattoos, and perforations (particularly of the soft tissues). In this sense, tattoos and perforations or piercings are popular -- particularly among adolescents. This trend may be interpreted as a form of communication, identity expression, or as a type of body cult (i.e., so-called "body art"). Such mutilating practices reflect different motivations including fashion, rebelliousness, differentiation, sexual motives, the remembering of events, physical sensations, and ethnic or tribal influences. However, these practices can cause complications such as infections, laceration and soft and hard tissue damage, hypersensitivity reactions and other alterations of variable severity. Under these premises, questions are raised concerning the competence of those who perform these mutilations, the preventive measures adopted, and the legal conditions under which tattoos and piercings are made in our society.