The Dentist Point Of View

A small preamble: this article isn’t about condemning smiley piercings because they’re symbols of Satan or because it will destroy your mouth. Instead, we’re going to give you some useful information and suggestions about this lip frenulum piercing. We will try to showcase scientific evidence without any prejudice and clarify some myths about this piercing.

Table of Contents:

What is a smiley piercing?
Does it hurt?
Healing time
Aftercare of the smiley
Rejection & Infection of the piercing
Eligibility
Pricing of a smiley piercing
Pros and Cons
Conclusion

What is a Smiley Piercing?

AKA  lip frenulum piercing is a piercing through a thin piece of tissue on the inside of your upper lip. That tissue is called the upper frenulum and it connects your upper lip to your gums, right above the two front teeth.

Does the piercing smile? No, since it is normally covered by the upper lip and visible only when you smile people call it “smiley” piercing.

Like other jewellery pieces there are many types but the most common is the circular barbell smiley.

Circular barbell smiley

The circular barbell is a sort of semi-circle with a knob at each end. It resembles a weight lifting barbell that is bending due to heavy weights on each end.

Smiley piercing fangs

For vampire fans there are piercings that look like fangs. Instead of the two balls at the end, this type has two slender cone shaped knobs that resemble vampire teeth. 

Material

Gold. Precious metal, expensive but very well tolerated.

Titanium. Very compatible metal, used for dental implants and knee surgery

Niobium. Usually used as an alternative to nickel due to its hypoallergenic properties

Stainless steel. Cheap but can sometimes cause allergic reactions.

Does a smiley piercing hurt?

Yes it does, like all others piercings hurt because you are intentionally puncturing a delicate part of your body with a sharp object and smiley piercings are no exception. Pain is something subjective and culturally mediated. The frenulum tissue is rich of nerves but since it is very thin the procedure is very fast and the sharp pain short, only lasting a few seconds.

How long does a smiley piercing take to heal?

It can take 4-12 weeks for it to heal but very frequently less then 4. It depends from your body but we can compare it with an old surgical frenulectomy, which is when the frenulum is removed completely. For a frenulectomy, the area is completely healed in around 2-4 weeks. Today the frenulectomy is performed with a diode laser which leads to less pain, no bleeding and a faster healing time.

Therefore, we could say that on average it’ll take about 2 weeks to heal since it is less traumatic and less invasive than the surgical procedure above. The soft tissue in the mouth tends to heal very quickly so a 4-12 week estimate is overly conservative in our opinion.

Maintenence

After this sort of minor surgery you have to take care of it while it is healing and also after it is fully healed. If the piercing gets infected you may need to have it removed. Wait for it to fully heal and put the smiley piercing again. Here are some suggestions:

What you should do:

Avoid acidic and spicy foods. Your wound is healing you don’t want to aggravate it with overly spicy, sour, or acidic foods. 

Brush your teeth at least twice a day for at least 2 minutes each. Don’t forget the dental floss. 

Use a mouth rinse or salt water after every meal. Salt is a natural antiseptic and can help reduce swelling while the wound is healing.

What you shouldn’t do:

Smoke. Smoking will bring bacteria and cause vasoconstriction (constriction of your blood vessels). It will delay healing because it is preventing nutrients from getting into the area.

Alcohol. It would burn inside the wound and delay the healing process.

Don’t play with it. Don’t play around with the smiley piercing and don’t keep touching it. Leave it in peace and let it heal because if you keep moving it around it can get infected or delay its healing.

No french kissing, or oral performances. It is best to not put too much pressure on the piercing while its healing. 

Avoid hard crunchy foods. These types of food can get caught in the piercing or snag it causing it to be pulled. That can injure the area while it is healing.

How to clean a smiley piercing

Ok let’s say that your smiley piercing is fully healed. You no longer need to abide by some of the restrictions but you still need to keep it clean because plaque can accumulate on the smiley. Brush it with regular toothpaste. Here are some subtle tips you may want to follow:

Brush gently with a softer toothbrush when you get to the piercing so you don’t injure it.

Lift it up so you can brush the upper front teeth too

Slide the smiley to the left and right so that you can clean the portion that is in between the frenulum.

Rejections & Infection

Is there a risk of getting an infection? or the body rejecting it? Yes there is!

Infected smiley piercing

Exactly like other piercings, the smiley can get infected either during the initial piercing or afterwards even if you take care of it.

Initial piercing. As we said before, right after the surgery the area is basically an open wound that needs to heal. Since the mouth is full of bacteria, the piercing site can get easily infected. This is why it is of utmost importance to keep your mouth as clean as possibly for the first 2-4 weeks.

Poor maintenance. The plaque and the tartar will accumulate on the smiley piercing! For this reason you should be very careful with oral hygiene.

How to understand if a smiley is infected:

The area is painful area two weeks after insertion.

It looks very red.

You have a bad taste, or smell in your mouth.

White pus is oozing out of the piercing.

If it happens you may want to return to whoever pierced it for you and have them take a look. You may need to have it removed and start over again after it heals. When in doubt it is better to get it checked out.

Smiley piercing rejection and migration

In these cases your body perceives the piercing as a foreign body, and to say the truth it is right 😉 and it can expel it slowly and painlessly.

What would make me ineligible to get one?

The only requirement to get a smiley piercing is to have a frenulum. If you don’t have one because previous trauma has cut it, you have nothing to pierce through!

If you fulfil the basic requirement, let’s see other conditions, which may make you want to reconsider getting one.

Frenulum thickness. The thicker is the tissue the longer the piercing will last. A very thin frenulum, on the other hand, may not last as long because it is more prone to tearing. Normal activities like eating and talking will move the lips up and down. The lip movement can put a lot of strain on the thin frenum which can cause it to tear. If you have a thinner frenulum, the piercing may only last up to a year at most.

Frenulectomy. If you’ve had the frenulum removed in the past, that would disqualify you from getting one because there is nothing to pierce through. If you wanted an alternative you can try getting a “frowny” which is done on the lower frenulum instead of the upper.

Normal Braces. If you are using the old type of braces, the external ones, you should not get this type of piercing because the smiley can snag on the wires and brackets. You risk ripping the piercing out or it getting tangled up. You either wait to be finished with braces or you ask for lingual braces that are a definitely better option, not only for their invisibility. Learn more here.

Dental veneers. If you have crowns or veneers on your upper front teeth, you will have run into some problems as the metal will bang and scratch on them as the lips move. Don’t risk destroying something expensive with something cheap.

How much the smiley piercing cost?

From 30 to 100 euros. In the cost you should consider not only the jewellery piece itself but the hygienic procedure needed to ensure a safe surgical operation. Please consider safety as your number one priority.

Pros and Cons

We are dentists and we are focused on your oral health. Our primary concern would be how the smiley affects your oral hygiene, gum health, and teeth. You may be surprised by what we say.

Pros:

Fun and cute. We like the idea that smiling shows off the smiley. The world need smiling people.

Removable. They can be easily removed and replaced.

Does not scratch your teeth. They are harder than metal so they are not going to scratch, but be careful of trauma. If something hits you mouth hard you have a piece of metal just over your frontal teeth, risking cracking.

Cons:

Gum recession. Ok the enamel is harder and safe, but your gums are not going to like the smiley! Unfortunately, Evidence based medicine suggests that gum recession is linked to long-term use of a smiley piercing. Read more. Don’t forget that gum recession can cause teeth sensitivity and cosmetic concerns.

Cleanliness. It will take more time to brush your teeth because you have to move it in order to brush your frontal teeth and because you have to wash the piercing too.

Longevity. Our patients rarely use it for more than two years probably due to the fact that the frenulum is a thin and delicate tissue in the mouth. To increase its life choose something light and small.

Tissue Scar. When creating problems or wear it too long can create a deformed frenulum not very beautiful smiling.

Conclusion

Considering Pro and Cons we are encouraging you to evaluate very well if this is something for you. We’re not opposed to getting a smiley piercing. If you really want to get it you can go ahead and get it. From our point of view it will be something that lasts for a short time anyway. If an infection arises you can remove it and in case of a very bad infection we can remove the frenulum completely. A lot of people live well without. In any case please check the gum levels carefully and in case of recession remove it asap and visit your dentist for suggestions.