What are the chances of a tongue piercing getting infected?

Devin is wrong, oral piercings are actually quite easy to heal. As long as you rinse your mouth out with mouthwash twice a day, keep your teeth clean and don’t smoke, it should heal perfectly in about a month! The reason it’s so easy to heal is because of the enzymes in your saliva that work to help clean your mouth 24/7.

From http://funadvice.com/r/15d5g8k18v4 :: A common belief is that saliva contained in the mouth has natural disinfectants, which leads people to believe it is beneficial to “lick their wounds”. Researchers at the University of Florida at Gainesville have discovered a protein called nerve growth factor (NGF) in the saliva of mice. Wounds doused with NGF healed twice as fast as untreated and unlicked wounds; therefore, saliva can help to heal wounds in some species. NGF has not been found in human saliva; however, researchers find human saliva contains such antibacterial agents as secretory IgA, lactoferrin, lysozyme and peroxidase.[5] It has not been shown that human licking of wounds disinfects them, but licking is likely to help clean the wound by removing larger contaminants such as dirt and may help to directly remove infective bodies by brushing them away. Therefore, licking would be a way of wiping off pathogens, useful if clean water is not available to the animal or person.

The mouth of animals is the habitat of many bacteria, some pathogenic. Some diseases, such as herpes, can be transmitted through the mouth. Animal (including human) bites are routinely treated with systemic antibiotics because of the risk of septicemia.

The chance is huge. Your mouth is the perfect place for growing bacteria. Its moist, warm and there are ready sources of food. Therefore your mouth is full of microorganisms, some of which may be pathogenic, and your tongue is full of blood vessels. This means that infection can be carried from your tongue to other areas of your body, including your brain.