Short answer
Yes. Fixed fillings, crowns, bridges, implants and braces do not affect ghusl, and you do not remove them. Removable dentures should be taken out so water reaches the gums. For piercings, water must get into the hole if it is open, so move the earring or nose ring. These points matter most in the Hanafi and Hanbali schools, where rinsing the mouth is obligatory in ghusl.
Rinsing the whole mouth and the soft part of the nose is fard in ghusl. Fixed dental work becomes part of the tooth and does not block water. Food between the teeth does not invalidate ghusl, but removing it is better. Water must enter an open piercing hole; a closed one is excused.
Other madhhabs
- Shafi'i
- Rinsing the mouth and nose is sunnah in ghusl, so dental work raises no question for validity.
- Maliki
- Rinsing the mouth and nose is sunnah in ghusl.
Explanation
Allah says that if you are in janabah, purify yourselves, using a form that means thorough purification. The Hanafi school reads this as covering every part of the body that water can reach without hardship, including inside the mouth and nose. Aisha described the Prophet ﷺ pouring water over his whole skin. So the question is what counts as skin, and what counts as a barrier.
Dental work, for a Hanafi:
- Fillings, crowns, bridges, veneers and implants: fixed, part of the tooth now. Ghusl is valid.
- Fixed braces and permanent retainers: valid. Rinse well around them.
- Removable dentures, plates and clear aligners: take them out so water reaches the gums and teeth. Many Hanafi muftis require this when they come out easily.
- Food between the teeth: does not stop ghusl, since water gets around it, but brushing or rinsing it out first is better.
Piercings and other places:
- Ear and nose piercings: if the hole is open, move the ring so water passes through. If it has closed, nothing is needed.
- Navel: make sure water goes into it.
- Behind the ears and in the folds of the skin: rub water in.
- Hair: see washing hair in ghusl.
If you forgot your mouth or nose and remember later, rinse them then. Your ghusl is complete from that moment, and prayers before it are repeated: see a missed part. For the fard acts, see the fard of ghusl.
The evidence
Quran, Surah Al-Maaida 5:6
يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓا۟ إِذَا قُمْتُمْ إِلَى ٱلصَّلَوٰةِ فَٱغْسِلُوا۟ وُجُوهَكُمْ وَأَيْدِيَكُمْ إِلَى ٱلْمَرَافِقِ وَٱمْسَحُوا۟ بِرُءُوسِكُمْ وَأَرْجُلَكُمْ إِلَى ٱلْكَعْبَيْنِ ۚ وَإِن كُنتُمْ جُنُبًۭا فَٱطَّهَّرُوا۟ ۚ وَإِن كُنتُم مَّرْضَىٰٓ أَوْ عَلَىٰ سَفَرٍ أَوْ جَآءَ أَحَدٌۭ مِّنكُم مِّنَ ٱلْغَآئِطِ أَوْ لَٰمَسْتُمُ ٱلنِّسَآءَ فَلَمْ تَجِدُوا۟ مَآءًۭ فَتَيَمَّمُوا۟ صَعِيدًۭا طَيِّبًۭا فَٱمْسَحُوا۟ بِوُجُوهِكُمْ وَأَيْدِيكُم مِّنْهُ ۚ مَا يُرِيدُ ٱللَّهُ لِيَجْعَلَ عَلَيْكُم مِّنْ حَرَجٍۢ وَلَٰكِن يُرِيدُ لِيُطَهِّرَكُمْ وَلِيُتِمَّ نِعْمَتَهُۥ عَلَيْكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَشْكُرُونَ ﴿٦﴾
O you who have believed, when you rise to [perform] prayer, wash your faces and your forearms to the elbows and wipe over your heads and wash your feet to the ankles. And if you are in a state of janabah, then purify yourselves. But if you are ill or on a journey or one of you comes from the place of relieving himself or you have contacted women and do not find water, then seek clean earth and wipe over your faces and hands with it. Allah does not intend to make difficulty for you, but He intends to purify you and complete His favor upon you that you may be grateful.
Commands full purification after janabah, which the Hanafi school applies to the mouth and nose.
Sahih al-Bukhari 248
Sahih... ثم يفيض الماء على جلده كله ...
"Then he would pour water over all of his skin."
Ghusl means water reaching the whole body.
Where the ruling is recorded
- al-Durr al-Mukhtar with Radd al-Muhtar, Kitab al-Taharah, fard of ghusl. Food between the teeth, earring holes, and what counts as a barrier.
- al-Hidaya, Kitab al-Taharat, chapter on ghusl. Rinsing the mouth and nose is fard in ghusl.
- Fatawa Mahmudiyya, Kitab al-Taharah, chapter on ghusl. Modern rulings on fillings, crowns and dentures.
Checked by our team. For a more accurate answer to your own situation, consult a scholar. Quran translation by Sahih International. Hadith Arabic from the standard editions of the six books and the Muwatta, with gradings as recorded there; the English is our own rendering. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.