Orthodontic Emergency Care
Although orthodontic emergencies are rare, some issues may cause you discomfort. Fortunately, many such issues can be temporarily solved at home until you can visit our office. If you experience severe discomfort, please call the office immediately.
Sometimes when your braces are initially placed or if your teeth are moving, the braces can rub on your cheeks. Consistent rubbing can cause a sore to develop in your mouth. Use wax to act as a band aid until the sore heals and rinse with a warm salt water rinse 3 times daily. The rinse will help the sore to heal faster and the wax will prevent the bracket from continuing to rub. Once your mouth heals, the tissue will be stronger and more resistant to the rubbing. You can also use a numbing gel for relief.
Loose brackets (square metal pieces) can sometimes occur by biting on something hard or sticky. It does not usually cause discomfort or treatment delay. If the bracket seems likely to fall off, you can take it off and bring it to us on your next visit. If the bracket is still attached to the wire, you can leave it alone until you can visit the office. If the loose bracket makes you feel some discomfort, you may place some wax to attach the loose bracket to its neighboring bracket. It will prevent the bracket from sliding around until you can come in to see us.
A loose wire could be caused by tooth movement, closing space or a broken bracket. You could use a pair of tweezers to guide your loose wire into place or use nail clippers to snip the portion of the wire that is long. If the wire is poking you, you can roll up a ball of wax and push it onto the end of the wire use a clean eraser on the end of a pencil to gently push the wire in a new direction. If you are still experiencing discomfort, please call our office and we will fix it for you.
If your separator comes out, you can try replacing it at home. Use 2 pieces of floss. Slide the floss through the middle of the separator and pull either piece of floss to opposite sides allowing you to pull the separator stretching it to become skinny. Simply floss the separator back into place. If you have issues, please call to inform us.
