lip ring dilemia
i'm thinking of taking my lip stud out... not because I am sick of it, I still love it to death but I'm really worried about gum recession.
I know I tend to freak myself out over little things, especially if teeth related (ask Houmam, a few months ago I freaked out about bottled water - I read that the generation growing up on bottled water may result in teeth problems due to the lack of fluoride, and suddenly I freaked out because I realized I mostly drank filtered/purified water at work and at the gym, and rarely any tap water.
"If bottled water is your main source of drinking water, you could be missing the decay-preventive benefits of fluoride," the ADA says. "
Anyway he laughed at irrational fears and I got over it. But I am mortified of irreversable decay and damage to my teeth. These fears has resulted in my compulsive brushing and flossing this past year. I also rinse with a special weekly fluoride mouthwash (and secretly use it more than the prescribed weekly usage)
I have regular dreams about my teeth becoming loose, and I have these same dreams where my jaw gets locked and I can't move it- and my bottom jaw and teeth are pushing hard against my top teeth. In the dream I can't stop the pushing and I'm deathly afraid I'm going to push so hard that my teeth loosen and fall out. I always wake up in a bit of a panic, and my jaw hurts, so I assume in my sleep I really am tensing up and locking my jaw.
Anyway gum recession has always been on my mind, but more so lately. I went and googled, and found a gazillion articles about the IRREVERSABLE damage a lip/labret piercing can do on your gums. The gum has definitely been worn down a bit on my bottom two middle teeth- I can see it. And now I'm worried if I keep the piercing in, it will only make it worse. The absolute worse case scenario, that COULD happen, is it wears the gum down so far and exposes some of the roots and can cause teeth sensivity, increase your cases of decay in those areas, and could lead to teeth loosening!!!!!
*CUE MASSIVE FREAK OUT*
If I had the money I would totally invest in expensive dentistry, and would even get veneers. IF I had the money. I wonder how many people do lose their teeth before they are 50?
I am so scared of losing teeth at an early age - I mean once you're 60 plus, fair enough. But can you imagine being 30? What if you're single and you meet someone and you take them home for the night and then you have to TAKE OUR YOUR TEETH?!?!! ARGH !!!!! even just losing ONE tooth and have a fake tooth thing? oh god, I'm having crazy heart palpitations just thinking about it.
So it shouldn't be a hard decision, right? Just take out the stud and be done with it. But then vanity kicks in - I love the piercing and I've had it for so long. In my eyes, my face looks so plain without it. :( *sigh*
I know I tend to freak myself out over little things, especially if teeth related (ask Houmam, a few months ago I freaked out about bottled water - I read that the generation growing up on bottled water may result in teeth problems due to the lack of fluoride, and suddenly I freaked out because I realized I mostly drank filtered/purified water at work and at the gym, and rarely any tap water.
"If bottled water is your main source of drinking water, you could be missing the decay-preventive benefits of fluoride," the ADA says. "
Anyway he laughed at irrational fears and I got over it. But I am mortified of irreversable decay and damage to my teeth. These fears has resulted in my compulsive brushing and flossing this past year. I also rinse with a special weekly fluoride mouthwash (and secretly use it more than the prescribed weekly usage)
I have regular dreams about my teeth becoming loose, and I have these same dreams where my jaw gets locked and I can't move it- and my bottom jaw and teeth are pushing hard against my top teeth. In the dream I can't stop the pushing and I'm deathly afraid I'm going to push so hard that my teeth loosen and fall out. I always wake up in a bit of a panic, and my jaw hurts, so I assume in my sleep I really am tensing up and locking my jaw.
Anyway gum recession has always been on my mind, but more so lately. I went and googled, and found a gazillion articles about the IRREVERSABLE damage a lip/labret piercing can do on your gums. The gum has definitely been worn down a bit on my bottom two middle teeth- I can see it. And now I'm worried if I keep the piercing in, it will only make it worse. The absolute worse case scenario, that COULD happen, is it wears the gum down so far and exposes some of the roots and can cause teeth sensivity, increase your cases of decay in those areas, and could lead to teeth loosening!!!!!
*CUE MASSIVE FREAK OUT*
If I had the money I would totally invest in expensive dentistry, and would even get veneers. IF I had the money. I wonder how many people do lose their teeth before they are 50?
I am so scared of losing teeth at an early age - I mean once you're 60 plus, fair enough. But can you imagine being 30? What if you're single and you meet someone and you take them home for the night and then you have to TAKE OUR YOUR TEETH?!?!! ARGH !!!!! even just losing ONE tooth and have a fake tooth thing? oh god, I'm having crazy heart palpitations just thinking about it.
So it shouldn't be a hard decision, right? Just take out the stud and be done with it. But then vanity kicks in - I love the piercing and I've had it for so long. In my eyes, my face looks so plain without it. :( *sigh*
15 Comments:
At March 22, 2006 10:59 AM, Strongblade! said…
Ever since my teeth appeared when I was a baby, I have always had some kind of complication with my teeth. I'm here to tell you that you will be fine. You sound as if you take exceptionally good care of your teeth (maybe obsessively so) and so you have nothing to fear.
As someone who has had his share of problems with teeth, the concerns you have about your lip-stud are quite valid concerns, but they shouldn't put you into so much worry.
The best thing you can do is, if you feel it is going to aggravate the situation, remove it for a while. Your gums will heal (and with the way you take care of your teeth, I imagine recovery time will be short). You can then go back to wearing it. As well, you can probably find something to put on the inside part to help protect your gums.
Simply keep an eye on it. You'll be fine.
At March 22, 2006 11:30 AM, James said…
I agree, remove it and see how you like life without a stud for a week or two. See if you notice your gums perking up a bit.
A lot of people fail to realize that they only get two sets of teeth their entire lifetime; once they're gone, they're gone for good... unless you look fake teeth.
I had a lot of cavaties when I was a kid. Luckily, they were all with my baby set and I take much better care of my adult teeth. Still, my two front teeth are capped with veneers so that they are symmetrical (mishap with a balance beam, you see), and I've got one crown in the back. Other than that, I think my teeth are great.
You use a fluoride rinse every week?
I use mine every night. :]
JR
P.S. Sonicares are great!
At March 22, 2006 12:09 PM, Suburban Hen said…
I'm pretty sure BNE water doesn't have any flouride. Isn't that one of the great debates? So you're not missing anything by not drinking tap water, unless you count heavy metals...
At March 22, 2006 1:22 PM, Candice said…
I used to have my eyebrow pierced but it grew out: I've always had problems with piercings. I could see it was starting to grow out.. if I'd taken it out when it first began I would only have a tiny, unnoticeable scar now & intact eyebrow. Instead I kept looking after it & told myself it would get better. Instead my eyebrow wore away & I now have no piercing & a chunk of my eyebrow is missing.
I was even stupid enough to get it done a second time because I missed it so much. Same thing happened, but at least I removed it in time.
I have no idea what the right decision is for you.. but I know I'd rather not get old & regret things I did younger in the name of looking good.
Dude that's freaky.. I have also had scary dreams about my teeth crumbling & falling out of my mouth.. I'm not usually scared by my dreams, but that terrified me!
Glad you liked the Tegan & Sara vids.. lol to me catching you on video before I even met you! That's so crazy.. and omg jealous of you meeting & seeing them so many times =D
I apologise for the essay..
At March 22, 2006 2:25 PM, reanon said…
strongblade, james - all the information i have read says the damage to your gums from the jewelry constantly rubbing and wearing it away is IRREVERSIBLE!!!! so if i take it out (which i have done for the day) i will only stop future damage. the gum does not grow back.
james - the rinse i have is a weekly one because i believe its a stronger amount of fluoride (?). There are daily mouthwashes and this one is a weekly one - http://www.myshopping.com.au/ZM--557162_Oral_Care Which one do you use every night?
candice - dont apologise for the essay, i tend to leave long winded comments too hehehe. i feel naked without the jewelry in *cry*
i wonder what teeth falling out dreams mean? i read once it was money related but i'm not sure.
At March 22, 2006 3:44 PM, James said…
Rhi, I use ACT fluoride rinse:
http://www.actfluoride.com/act/faq.html
It's not as powerful as the stuff you use (2% vs. 0.05%), but it's fine for everynight application (and it's easier to stick to since it's a habit now).
Have you spoken with a periodontist about what you can do to alleviate the problem?
JR
At March 22, 2006 5:06 PM, Anonymous said…
there is no flouride in brisbane water.
At March 22, 2006 5:22 PM, Anonymous said…
I took my lip ring out after just two years of having it because my dentist said it was damaging my two bottom front teeth.
I was bummed because yeah it looks cool, but dentistry is fucking expensive and painful, so that won out.
I also have the teeth and jaw clenching dreams. I usually have them a) when I'm stressed about something or b) when I'm conscious of my teeth feeling funny.
Apparently it's quite common. If you're worried I think you can buy special dental guards that stop you grinding/clenching while you sleep!
At March 23, 2006 1:04 PM, Mike said…
Rhi, I just saw this article and thought I'd pass it along. A new study says that too much flouride can damage teeth and bones...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11962379/
At March 24, 2006 6:49 PM, Jen said…
What if you put dental wax on the back of the stud, like the stuff they use for braces.
It might feel a bit weird at first, but it might stop or minimise any damage to your gums.
I understand where you are coming from though, even since I had braces, I am now pbsessed with my teeth.
At March 24, 2006 9:25 PM, barry said…
anonymous is right. brisbane water is not fluoridated. so you don't need to drink tap water - if do you do want fluoride (and a lot of studies show that industrial fluoride, the stuff found in tap water and fluoride washes, is ineffective) just buy a fluoridated toothpaste or mouthwash.
At March 25, 2006 10:42 AM, Captain Happy Pants said…
28 and I had a tooth pulled thanks to a rather large abcess... I see dead people all day and that still having an build up of pus and yuckiness in my head is just sooo gross... so now I have only 2 wisdoms a molar missing and 2 crowns thanks to sporting accidents... I also took my labret out as it was hitting my teeth all the time felt much better without it but I still wish I had it sometimes.
At March 25, 2006 10:46 AM, Gigi said…
i removed my labret for the same reason. it's a cool piercing but i'd rather have a normal gumline. lol.
At March 26, 2006 10:19 PM, Bryan said…
Funny you should bring up the subject of gums being worn away. Mine have done that along the bottom, but not due to anything I've done but some lousy hereditary thing. I won't go into detail about it, but basically I'm going in to have new tissue put in (rather than the other option of having it taken from my palette). It is supposed to prevent it from happening again and will obviously, replace what I've lost, but it's unpleasant needing surgery. My bank account especially agrees with me.
At April 02, 2006 2:55 PM, Kurt said…
The loose teeth thing is probably my most common type of dream.
I think I have one of those at least once a month.
They never last too long; they're usually quite short, but it is always just long enough to freak me out.
They usually seem so real too.
I'll be in some normal everyday situation and I'll put my finger to one of my teeth and it will wobble a bit.
I'll think, oh crap, I'm loosing a tooth!
What makes it worse is that in the dream, the tooth feels just the way a loose tooth would have felt when you were a yougn child and was loosing a baby tooth.
In the dream I'llbe moving the tooth for a while thinking how terrible my situation is, wondering why because I take care of my teeth.
I'll be thinking how much I hope I am dreaming and sometimes the dream even ends with the tooth coming completely out.
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