Lawmaker wants tongue splitting done by doctor

“I just want to make sure it’s done under medical supervision,” said Sen. Tim Burchett, R-Knoxville, who is sponsoring the measure.

State Rep. Diane Black, R-Gallatin, is sponsoring the legislation in the House.

During the procedure, the tongue is sliced down the center with a scalpel. The two segments are pulled apart with forceps, while the new edges are stitched or cauterized to keep them from coming back together. The splitting is done without anesthesia.

Similar legislation is proposed in West Virginia, New York, Indiana and Kentucky, according to the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons. Texas and Illinois have restricted or barred the procedure.

Shannon Larratt, the publisher of Body Modification Ezine, said the procedure is a safe form of self expression.

“Aesthetics are personal and, in a free society, it is a basic right that we are allowed to control our own body’s appearance, including through surgery if we choose to,” Larratt, who has a split tongue, wrote on her Web site.

Still, dentists in Tennessee said the procedure can result in blood loss or nerve damage.

“It’s just not the kind of thing that I think very many physicians or dentists are going to be too excited about performing,” said Dr. Steven Tipps, an oral and maxillofacial surgeon who heads the Chattanooga-area Dental Society. “I really think the potential for complications when somebody starts making incisions on someone’s tongue is substantially different than when someone punches a hole in their ear or nose.”

Burchett said he’s not worried about too much opposition to the legislation in Tennessee. The bill is working through the health committees in the House and Senate.

“I think it’ll probably pass,” he said. “I don’t feel like the tongue-splitting crowd has a very effective lobby.”