After receiving restorative work, you must follow certain instructions to make sure your new, beautiful smile lasts as long as possible. This also is the case when talking about dental fillings. This treatment consists of placing different types of material in your teeth to restore their integrity and morphology. They can be used to repair tooth decay and cracks, fill root canals and even make the shape of the teeth more even.

After receiving dental fillings in Encino, you will need to talk to your dentist about the proper care you need to practice to ensure they are long-lasting. There are many ways to take care of them, here we bring you a few tips to follow before you speak to your dental professional about fillings.

How to take care of your fillings immediately after they are placed:

How to take care of your fillings long term:

Ask about dental fillings near you at your local dental office. They can give you more tips and information on how to care for them and maintain a beautiful and healthy smile.

Artistic expression comes in many forms. From clothing and tattoos, to hair colours and body modifications such as piercings, there’s no end to the list. However, while society grows ever more accepting of these norms, your dentist may have something to say about some of them: namely tongue piercings and other oral piercings. Tongue piercings in particular are known to cause a couple different problems such as tooth movement and chipping teeth.

Tooth Movement

Normally, this issue occurs when the tongue piercing is placed incorrectly and is too far forward on the tongue. Therefore, when your mouth is relaxed, the piercing could be putting constant pressure on the back of the top front teeth. Overtime, this will cause the teeth to loosen and shift from their original positions, overlapping over teeth and causing gaps between them.

Cracking and Chipping

A tongue piercing is considered to be a foreign object, and therefore your body will not be used to it right away. It may take several days in order to accommodate the new tongue piercing and grow used to it, but in that time, cracking and chipping can occur by accident when the piercing is banged against the teeth. Although this can happen when the piercing is fully healed, it’s much more likely to happen in the first few days. The chips may not be noticeable at first, but overtime enough enamel will be chipped away to create a layer thin enough for the piercing to full break and even crack.

Although the recommended practice by dentists would be to avoid oral piercings completely, for those who already have the piercing, you don’t have to take it out. Being mindful and cautious of the position of the piercing can help reduce the damage. There are jewelry options as well that can lessen the damage or eliminate it completely depending on what material is used, but that will be something to discuss with your piercer.

For more information on safe oral practices, give us a call at (818) 380-9057.