5 Things You Should Do to Prevent Your Tongue Bar Impacting Your Oral Health
Posted on: 9 November 2016
Dentists generally advise against wearing tongue bars since they can cause damage to the teeth. Be that as it may, everyone has a right to express themselves; if you're committed to wearing your tongue bar, just make sure you also commit to proper oral care. Here are 5 easy things you should take care of to help prevent your tongue bar from impacting your oral health.
1. Use a Shorter Bar
When you're first fitted with a tongue bar, you should be given quite a large one to ensure proper swelling. That's fine, but you should swap that longer, larger bar out for a smaller one once the recovery period has come to an end. Having a longer bar within your mouth makes it far easier to bite down on the end while talking or eating. If this happens, you could easily fracture one of your teeth.
2. Brush Every Night
You'll obviously want to keep brushing and flossing your teeth, but it's also a good idea to take your tongue bar out at night and brush it in a similar manner. That might sound a little ridiculous, but the same bacteria that collects on your teeth can collect on the surface of your mouth jewellery, so make sure you scrub it away if you want to avoid tooth decay and bad breath.
3. Use Plastic Instead of Metal
One of the problems with tongue bars is that they are often all-metal. When you speak, the metal end can flick against the teeth, potentially causing damage. You can help mitigate this issue by using balls made of plastic polymer on the end of the barbell. These aren't nearly as hard as metal ones.
4. Don't Play with Your Tongue Bar
A tongue bar can be very much like a loose tooth in that it's often very hard to resist playing around with. However, this is something you want to avoid. If you find yourself flicking your tongue bar around or tapping it against your teeth when you're bored or anxious, stop yourself immediately. This is going to damage your tooth enamel. Once that enamel, which forms the hard protective surface of your teeth, is compromised, tooth decay becomes far more likely.
5. Watch Out for Signs of Infection
It's possible, especially when you're still in the recovery period, for your tongue piercing to become infected. This is bad for the whole mouth, so you need to see your dentist as soon as possible if an infection occurs. Signs include swelling, discomfort, an unpleasant odour, and a red streaky appearance along the tongue.
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