Common symptoms following piercing include pain, swelling, infection and increased salivary flow.
Potential complications of intraoral and perioral piercings are numerous, although available scientific literature is rather limited and consists mainly of case reports. Airway obstruction due to pronounced edema or aspiration of jewelry poses another risk, and aspirated or ingested jewelry could present a hazard to respiratory or digestive organs. In addition, oral ornaments can compromise dental diagnosis by obscuring anatomy and defects in x-rays. In addition, secondary infection from oral piercing can be serious. For more information on oral piercing and the American Dental Association's position on oral piercing visit the ADA's web site .