Emergency Care
Orthodontic emergencies are very rare, if you follow all the instructions properly.
As a general rule, you should call the office when you experience severe pain or when you have a painful appliance problem that you can’t take care of yourself. We’ll be able to schedule an appointment to resolve the problem.
You may be able to temporarily solve many problems yourself until you schedule an appointment with our office. Please learn about parts of your Orthodontic appliances by referring to Orthodontic dictionary.
After alleviating your discomfort, it is very important that you still call our office as soon as possible to schedule a time to repair the problem. Allowing your appliance to remain damaged for an extended period of time may result in disruptions to your treatment plan.
General Soreness
When you get your braces on, you may feel general soreness in your mouth, and teeth may be tender to biting pressures for three to five days. This can be relieved by rinsing your mouth with warm saltwater.
You may also apply a mouth ulcer gel on the affected part.
If the tenderness is severe, take a routine pain relieving medicine like aspirin or crocin.
Headgear
Sometimes headgear discomfort is caused by not wearing the headgear as instructed by your orthodontist. Please refer to the instructions provided by your orthodontist. If the facebow is bent, please call our office for assistance. Surprisingly, the headgear may hurt less as it’s worn more, so be sure you’re getting in the prescribed number of hours.
Loose Appliances
If your appliance is poking you, place wax on the offending part of your appliance. If a part of bonded appliance comes loose, please schedule an immediate appointment to refix it.
Loose Bracket
If your bracket or band is still attached to the wire, you should leave it in place and put wax on it. If the bracket comes out entirely, wrap the bracket with a tissue and get it back to us to refix it.
Loose Wire
An arch wire may shift on one side and extend behind the molar tube. It can cause constant irritation to cheek mucosa. Using a tweezer, try to pull the wire on the opposite side and put it back to it’s place. If it doesn’t help, use a small fingernail clipper to clip the wire behind the last tooth to which it is securely fastened. If your discomfort continues, place wax on it or place a wet cotton roll between cheek and the poking wire till the time you see the doctor.
Poking Wire
Using a pencil eraser, push the poking wire down or place wax on it to alleviate the discomfort.
Facial Trauma
A minor or a major accident involving facial injury particularly with braces on can very annoying. In case of an injury to the face and the teeth with the braces, make sure that all parts of the braces are in place. In case any part has come loose or is poking into mouth tissue, put a cotton swab to keep thr broken portion away from injured mouth tissues. Apply lots of ice to the injured tissues and schedule an earliest appointment with our office to get the necessary repairs done.
