Wash your piercing on the outside with fragrance-free antibacterial soap. Rinse it well with warm water, and dry it with a clean paper towel.
Warm 1 cup of bottled water in the microwave for 30 to 45 seconds. Mix in 1/8 tsp. of non-iodized sea salt, and stir well with a spoon.
Soak a piece of sterile gauze or a cotton swab with the salt solution. Clean your piercing with the cotton swab and leave it wet, or hold the gauze over your piercing for 15 minutes to do a more thorough sea salt soak. Repeat steps 1-3 twice daily.
Rinse your mouth with the sea salt solution for at least 30 seconds. Repeat twice daily.
Visit your piercer when the initial swelling goes down, after one to two weeks. Piercers insert a bar that is slightly too long in initial oral piercings to allow the piercing to swell. Because long bars can catch on clothing or irritate your gums, it is important to downsize the jewelry as soon as your Monroe piercing is finished swelling.