Soldier's tongue piercing causes fatal infection

19-year-old's death was a rare case, experts say.

By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH
A 19-year-old combat soldier who died at Haifa's Rambam Medical Center on Monday as a result of complications of a tongue piercing he had done in July was a rare case, but oral piercings commonly cause infections, according to experts in the Israel Defense Forces and Tel Aviv University's School of Dental Medicine. The Jerusalem Post reported 10 days ago about an Israeli study of such complications published in the American Dental Journal that noted Israeli teenagers are twice as likely to get oral piercings than their counterparts in New York - but both are at high risk for gum disease and tooth fractures. The victim of tongue piercing felt severe pain around his lips a week after undergoing the procedure. He went to the Emek Medical Center near his home in Afula and Bnei Zion Hospital in Haifa and was transferred to Rambam as his condition worsened. He developed a dozen infections in his brain that had begun in his mouth. First he was in the neurology department, but then the soldier was transferred to intensive care. The American Dental Journal study by and Dr. Yehuda Zadik and Dr. Liran Levin found nearly one in five of those with oral piercings risk their gums and teeth. Even if patients remove the piercings when they reach adulthood, they will be at a higher risk for complications that include tooth loss and gum problems, they wrote. Two years ago, after the Health Ministry noted numerous complications from piercings and tattoos, it required establishments that do them to place a warning sign of the risk of infections, pain, scars and other health problems. Practitioners have to learn how to disinfect equipment and use disposable needles.