9 Oct 2011

I got this message from a girl seeking advice about jewelry for her smiley piercing:

Hi I'm D.,
I was wondering if you could help me out with something, although I'm not sure if this is a type of help you can give. I have my smiley pierced and I recently snagged it a little. Which I have noticed it might have torn little enough to not bother me, but enough that it is now sitting a tiny bit lower then when initially pierced. Was sitting on the lower gum line. Now I can just barely feel it touching some tooth.

Now I know these ones are pretty risky as far as migration goes, but I'm madly in love with it and want to do anything to keep it without risk. My problem is it is now causing one of my front teeth to be incredibly sensitive and this was never a problem before. I know I can go smaller in diameter as far as the captive bead ring goes, or just flat out switch to a bent barbell which I want to avoid the barbell unless it's my only option.

So I've spent the last week trying to find somewhere that has a CBR with a silicone or silicone like bead instead of surgical steel to protect my teeth more if rubbing happens. I know they make them commonly in larger gauges and the smallest I can seem to find is a 10g. I definitely DO NOT want to put anything bigger then the 18g I have now.

Don't want to lose my pretty piercing, and with bigger sizes it's pretty much inevitable. What I'm so slowly getting at is do you have any idea where I could find some? Preferably the internet if possible, if not that's okay too. Or maybe somewhere I can custom order it? I hope you can help! By the way I looove your site! You're awesome! Talk to you soon.

Smiley Piercing

Hi D.,
Depending on the amount of tissue left in the piercing, you may end up with more migration and possible rejection, so that's something to keep an eye on, in addition to where the jewelry rests. If the ring is on your tooth and you are experiencing sensitivity from that, it is very important that you try a different size or style of jewelry.  This is from my book, The Piercing Bible:

The biggest danger is damage to teeth, gums, and oral structures from jewelry. The delicate enamel on your teeth can get cracked or chipped if you play with your jewelry. Biting or clicking jewelry often or hard—for fun or by accident—will result in wrecking ball fractures (small cracks in the teeth). Continuous pressure from hard metal can diminish the density of the underlying bone over time. Gum recession is caused by jewelry that is too big or improperly placed, or from excessive rubbing of hard metal against the delicate soft tissue of the palate or gums. Enamel, bone, and gum tissue do not regenerate. Damage to these oral structures is serious and irreversible.How about a ring that doesn't have a bead on it at all? That would be a safer bet for your oral structures.

Clicker Rings (wthout bead)If you want to keep in a ring, I'd suggest one that doesn't have any bead on it at all. These white gold clicker rings are pricey, but a great option for you, and much easier to insert or remove than the other style below. You can get them from BodyArtForms in titanium or in steel.

Also, you can do your own searches for 18 gauge clicker rings and/or 18 gauge segment rings and/or seam/seamless rings and see what you turn up.

Yet another style option is the "seamless" or "continuous" ring, which doesn't have a bead either. But it bends open and closed, which can make it harder to insert or remove than the other two styles. You can find them in 18 ga in very small diameters here.

Note that Body Art Forms carries jewelry in a range of qualities, so I cannot make a blanket recommendation for everything they sell.

Please be careful and do not let your love of your piercing get in the way of making good decisions about your oral health!

Take care,

Elayne

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