Category: Blog

Piercing your tongue can run some health risks but when provided with good aftercare the problems should be able to be kept minimal. The worry is the bacteria trapped in your mouth that can cause infection at the piercing site. Caring for a newly pierced tongue should involve cleaning the jewelry while avoiding any risky behaviors that may cause infections.

After a Tongue Piercing:

Most commercial and homemade cleaning solutions applied during and after the piercing will help keep the site adequately cleaned. The Association of Professional Piercers (AAP) suggests using antimicrobial mouth rinses after each meal while the site is healing. However, these washes and rinses should not be used more than about four or five times per day. The mouth should be rinsed for 30 to 60 seconds with the solution before the solution is spat out. A ¼ cup of iodine-free salt mixed with 8 ounces of warm water can make a great secondary rinse. The salt solution should be used for 10-15 seconds for several rinses in a row twice per day.

Your Toothbrush:

Using a new toothbrush soon as the piercing is done can help avoid old bacteria getting into the piercing site. A soft-bristled brush on the smaller side such as Colgate Slim Soft ® is a great selection of a toothbrush to use in these cases. Use a gentle brushing pattern to avoid harming the piercing site while its healing.

When eating be sure to avoid letting food contact the site where the piercing occurred. Wash your hands with antibacterial soap and eat finger foods for a few days where you can place the food directly on the molars to help ensure you are keeping the bacteria and food particles that can get into the piercing site to a minimum. Please always do wash your hands again before putting them in your mouth to avoid making yourself sick!

Normal Healing:

A normal piercing will see pain lasting up to a month as the tissue around the piercing site heals according to the University of Wisconsin (Whitewater). The AAP states that swelling can last 3 to 5 days, and things like sucking on ice chips or small ice cubes may help relieve some swelling while keeping you hydrated if drinking regular water is relatively painful for a few days. Plaque can collect on the jewelry itself as well but if the top of your tongue turns a yellowish color that’s a sign of overcleaning.

Signs of Infections:

Nonetheless, the American Dental Association (ADA) has warned of some potentially serious side-effects have had a tongue piercing that can get infected including that the tongue swelling, if severe enough, may inhibit breathing for some people. Signs of infection include fever, chills, shaking, and red-streaked appearance around the piercing site are all signs that there may be infections in your new piercing. Usually piercing will take 4 to 6 weeks to heal completely.

Avoiding Problems:

A few temporary lifestyle changes can also help you avoid some serious complications after having tour tongue pierced. This includes avoiding oral sex while your piercing site is healing. Do not have things like chewing like chewing gums or mints while the tongue is healing is also advisable. This goes for hard candies as well. Other nonfood items like cigarettes, chewing tobacco, or smoking pipes should be avoided as well. This will help avoid further chances of infections. Avoid hot, spicy foods as the seasoning may burn the tissue around where the tongue is healing. Playing with and messing with the jewelry or twisting it around will not help either as it can cause irritation at the piercing site.

Conclusions:

Ensuring that you provide your mouth with proper oral care after a piercing helps ensure that you are not going to experience any unnecessary complications after having a piercing done.

X-Rays have many perceptions in the eyes of Americans depending on the use for each type of x-ray. What many Americans seem to fail to understand though is that x-rays are not a one-size-fits-all concept. There are all kinds of x-rays out there from those for medical purposes to those used for dental purposes to those used in the airports. This confusion leads to many questions about dental x-rays.

Traditional x-rays are the type of radiographs that will look at your teeth and gums to get a better view than your dentist can with his/her naked eye. Traditional x-rays are considered a safe procedure in modern dentistry as considerably less radiation is used with modern technology than was used even just a couple decades ago, however, it is still possible that with the other chemicals used to process the film and including human error someone could still be overexposed to radiation more than necessary to get the x-rays done. That can be a bit more dangerous.

Newer technology provides another option called digital x-rays. There are many benefits to these new, digital x-rays provide many perks including:

• Less Radiation: The digital x-rays require a lot less radiation than the traditional x-ray does — about 80% less radiation to be exact.
• Comfort: digital x-rays eliminate the lead vests and the awkward biting on plastic tools in one’s mouth. Instead, you get a small sensor inside your mouth and you bite on the piece to allow a thin computer wire to read the x-rays. The sensor is just moved around the mouth to get various images and you bite on it. Much nicer than those uncomfortable plastic utensils being jammed into your mouth for you to bite onto.
• Quality: The actual x-rays themselves display images in as little as 3 seconds, and they are much easier for patients to take and easier for technicians to read. The pictures remain undistorted and the original images generally hold up quite well. These x-rays often also show decay in a tooth earlier so the problem is found before it gets much more severe.

Most claims for insurance are also easier to make when there are digital x-rays to back up the evidence It’s also much more environmentally friendly not to have to dispose of all the paper and film waste afterward.

If you have any questions or would like to learn more about us visit us here or call us 909-465-1016. The Ramona Dentistry Team “Where Family Comes First”

If you visit your dental hygienist every 6 months for routine cleaning and plaque removal as is recommended by the American Dental Association (ADA) you know that the routine helps keep your teeth from building up any substantial problems with plaque and tartar. This is done to keep the gums and teeth healthy. If how you have severe symptoms of gum disease, however, a procedure called scaling and planning may be needed to help further cleanse the mouth from harmful bacteria.

When is Scaling & Planning Recommended?

Scaling and planning are used to the teeth to prevent periodontal disease from developing. In fact, this procedure is sometimes just simply known as “deep cleaning”. This is considered the “gold standard” to help many patients suffering from a periodontal disease from allowing the disease to get any more advanced according to the Journal of Evidence-Based Dental Practice.

Normally healthy gum tissue is tight around the tooth, and the McCarl Dental Group recommends that healthy gums should be about 1 to 3 millimeters thick. However, bacterial plaque and buildup around the teeth can cause periodontal disease to develop in the deep pockets of the gums. Your dentist may recommend you for scaling and planning as a first treatment to help treat periodontal disease.

Like a Splinter from a Finger:

Scaling and planning will either be done by a hygienist or your dentist. Depending on the severity of your periodontal disease it may take more than one appointment to fully complete the scaling and planning of the entire mouth. It’s comparable to having an irritating splinter removed from a finger. It’s not going to be painful per say, but it’s not a comfortable procedure either. The smoothly rooted gums will regrow themselves and be able to reattach to the teeth again to ensure further plaque avoids getting into the gums in the future.

After the Procedure:

You will need to go to the dentist for a follow-up appointment after the gums heal to check the deep pockets in the gum tissue again. This allows the dentist to ensure that all of the plaque was effectively removed from the gum line and that no further work needs to be done. The good news is that most tissue that was red and irritated will grow back pink and firm. If the gum tissue responds well and returns healthy you may need no further treatment.

However, more advanced periodontal diseases may require more treatment. Sometimes this includes surgical interventions to stop the progressions of bone loss. However, scaling and planning can still help require a less invasive procedure later on and has its place even in the worst cases of periodontal disease.

Periodontal Maintenance:

After any sort of periodontal intervention whether surgical in nature or not your dentist may want to put you on a schedule of maintenance appointments to check the progress of your mouth for some time. Every two to four months is a general schedule, sometimes more often for the most severe cases. These visits will involve routine cleanings and thorough examination of the gum tissue to make sure no periodontal disease is recurring.

Oral Care for Prevention:

To help prevent the disease from recurring in the future it is vital that you follow your dentists’ instructions to keep your gums and teeth healthy. The American Dental Association (ADA) encourages you to brush at least twice a day with toothpaste (with fluoride included), replace toothbrushes when the bristles are worn, floss daily to clean between teeth, use an antimicrobial mouthwash such as Colgate Total Advanced Pro-Shield ®, and do not smoke.

Whatever you call the planning and scaling routine it can help you improve your oral health!

If you have any questions or would like to learn more about us visit us here or call us 909-465-1016. The Ramona Dentistry Team “Where Family Comes First”