Emergency Care

True orthodontic emergencies are very rare, but when they do occur we are available to you. 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 might be surprised to learn that you may be able to temporarily solve many problems yourself until you schedule an appointment with our office. When working with your appliances, you need to know the names of the parts of your appliances so you can identify what part is broken or out of place. 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 cause disruptions in your treatment plan.

• General Soreness

   

  When you get your braces on, you may feel general soreness in your mouth.  Your teeth may be tender to biting pressures for three to five days.  This is normal and will resolve on it's own so just eat a soft diet and hang in there.  If the tenderness is severe, take the over-the-counter pain reliever you normally take for headache or similar pain for up to three days. 

  The lips, cheeks and tongue may also become irritated for one to two weeks as they toughen and become accustomed to the surface of the braces. You can put wax on the braces to lessen this. We'll show you how!
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• Loose Appliance

   

  If your appliance is poking you, place wax on the offending part of your appliance.
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• 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, bring it with you to your next visit.
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• Loose Wire

   

  Using a tweezer, try to put your wire back into place. If doing this and using wax doesn't help, as a last resort use a small fingernail clipper to clip the wire behind the last tooth to which it is securely fastened. Make sure you hold the end that is being cut off so you don't swallow it. If your discomfort continues, place wax on it.
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• Poking Wire

   

  Using a pencil eraser, push the poking wire down or place wax on it to alleviate the discomfort.
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