I had been toying with the idea of getting a smiley, or scrumpter piercing, which is the horizontal piercing of the teeny flap of flesh that exists between the gum above your two front teeth, and your lip. I'd pinched it before, and didn't feel much, but thought it might look weird. I can't remember where I'd seen it, but I'd been sitting on the idea for at least a year and a half.
At A Glance Author Trista Contact mrs.world@gmail.com When Six months ago Artist Hope Studio Good Karma Location Fairbanks,AK I was concerned that it might damage my teeth, or get pulled out. I though maybe it might be hard to eat with it, or that I might get my tongue bar stuck in it. I was also worried that it might end up being hard to clean properly, but I loved the way it looked.
So when I thought of it again, so I went for it. I called Hope, the piercer at Good Karma Tattoo & Piercing, and she agreed to do it- we'd been talking for awhile about it.
Hope was psyched to do the piercing, because it was her first smiley, and charged me only for the jewelry, which was around $15. I hadn't had a piercing in a long time, even though I'd had collectively 13 piercings in my day. My lip is pierced in the center, below the color line, horizontal, and my tongue was pierced at the time, so finagling the other jewelry was a problem. We decided that it was best if I removed it for the piercing.
Hope seemed like she was confident in the piercing, calling her husband, the owner of the shop, Mike in to check her mark. It was hard for me to visualize how she would mark it, but she did. The hardest part of the whole thing was I kept drooling nonstop, and holding my top lip back got tiring, and I'm sure it wasn't attractive, anyway.
She positioned herself above me, while I sat drooling upside down. She told me to breath. In, out, and she tried to grasp my little flap, while resting her fingers on my face. It was very awkward, but I know she knew what she was doing, or she wouldn't even be trying.
She positioned for the last time, and I closed my eyes. The room was silent, and I heard her breathe in. Then.... GOD DAMN! This hot, slicing, burning, itching pain. And then in a flash it was gone. We're talking the initial puncture. Hurt like the devil. But it hurt for a fraction of a second. She had me sit up, and a few trickles of blood escaped the fresh wound. I got a little dizzy ( I swear I ate that day!) and looked in the mirror. What I saw was reminiscent of those photos of the crazy New Guinean tribal piercings, with this 3" long needle through the web of my lip. I looked at my boyfriend, who had this 'Dear God, where did I find her? And why did I think she was normal?' look on his face. Later, he said he didn't like seeing me hurt. Right, I know the truth.
She fed through the captive bead ring, and it stung a bit when she got the bead in. It wasn't sore, just kind of numb, comparable to a new tongue piercing.
She gave me the schpeil on how to clean it, how to care....I knew what she was going to say, but I like to heal my mucus membrane piercings in my own quick way.
I went to the store and bought some Bactine Anti-Bacterial Wash, and some mouthwash.
I diluted the mouthwash to half-strength and popped it into a little water bottle I could tote around with me. And the true good stuff, was the Bactine. I like to shake it up till it's foamy, then squirt it right up there. It not only numbs the soreness, it lubricates it so it doesn't build up with gook. I switched the jewelry to a stainless-steel continuous ring, so that it moves freely.
I found that I couldn't eat anything I really had to bite into, like apples for about a month- I got it a couple times on a carrot, and it hurt like a bitch, so I avoided them as well. The hardest thing was CLEANING IT. And I don't mean the piercing, I mean the plaque that builds up on the ring itself, and the portion of your teeth under it. I used a baby toothbrush and brushed it with Listerine at first, and now I just brush it like it were part of my teeth. It seemed like it only two weeks or so to heal completely, and then I didn't notice it at all. I feel it, and I like it, but I don't notice it that often.
So far, anyone who sees it grabs their mouth and hisses while breathing in. Most people don't say anything if they spy it because they thought it was some kind of dental structure. I think I need a bigger ring for it, because it is just barely visible when I smile, making it kind of strange. I love it, and would definitely recommend the piercing for someone who needs to hide it for work as well.