The advocates of lip piercing should beware: no matter how attractive a ring or a stud may look, their owners may be facing serious dental health hazards. The researches of Ohio State University in Columbus reported Thursday to a dental conference in Baltimore about their discovery of harm caused by lip piercing. By studying the same number of 29-year-old people both with and without piercing, they came to the conclusion that the stud placed in the middle of the bottom lip may put people at risk of receding gums.

When gums recede, they creep down the teeth, leaving the roots exposed. The teeth become ultra-sensitive to cold, and more susceptible to cavities and infections.

Receding gums were significantly greater among subjects with lip piercing (41.4 percent) than among controls (6.9 percent). Dr. Dimitris N. Tatakis who was in charge of the study experiment explicated that piercing makes teeth ultra-sensitive to cold, and more susceptible to cavities. Moreover it’s harder for people with piercing to brush and clean their teeth, and the risk of plaque buildup and gingivitis rises in many times,  Reuters Health reports.

At the 83rd General Session of the International Association for Dental Research in Baltimore Tatakis also added that the time of wearing all that rings and studs depends on the gum recession.

Tatakis marked that good brushing and oral hygiene is always helpful, but there is no way of preventing recession if people wear a foreign object in their mouth that constantly rubs up against their gum line.