Managing Orthodontic Emergencies

How to handle an Orthodontic Emergency

Occasionally, some patients will experience an orthodontic problem or injury to the mouth during treatment. Dental emergencies while wearing braces or other orthodontic appliances generally fall into two categories.

EMERGENCIES RELATED TO ORTHODONTIC APPLIANCES

Sometimes, appliances might be broken or bent during your orthodontic care. If there are any disturbances, such as loose bands, loose brackets, broken or poking wires, please call our office for an appointment during patient hours. For your convenience and the convenience of scheduled patients, it is not possible to handle emergencies on a walk in basis. In the meantime, here are some helpful hints to remedy some of the problems you may encounter until our office can see you.

If a tie wire is irritating your mouth, cover it with bees wax or tuck it under the arch wire with a blunt object like a pencil eraser or Q-tip.
A loose band or bracket can generally be left in place until seen in our office. Call our office when you notice a loose band or bracket. We will schedule you to reattach the loose appliance, if needed.
A broken or poking archwire can often be bent in with a pencil erasure or cut with nail clippers. Call our office if you do not feel the problem has been resolved properly.
Please watch these videos that explain how to handle most orthodontic appliance issues at home.

DIRECT INJURIES TO THE MOUTH AND TEETH

Following a direct injury to your mouth or teeth, whether undergoing orthodontic care or not, immediately ice the injured area and you should contact your regular dentist as soon as possible. Usually an x-ray of the involved tooth or teeth is needed to determine the extent of injury. If a tooth has been displaced, knocked out, or fractured, it is best to contact your family dentist first, since we may not have the necessary materials or anesthesia required to treat these injuries. If the appliances are dislodged or displaced, we will need to replace or adjust the appliances as soon as possible, after you have seen your general dentist, depending upon the comfort level of the patient.

Which parts are broken or loose?

Please use this diagram to describe your concerns when calling our office. If anything metal is loose on your braces you will need to schedule an appointment to repair it. Accurately describing the problem will help us ensure that we have the time in our schedule to accomodate all of your repair needs.

O-Tie or colored tie: These plastic ties wrap around the brace and wire to ligate each individual tooth. It may also be one continuous unit called Power Chain.

Braces or bracket: The small square metal piece that is adhered to each individual tooth.

Archwire: This is the horizontal wire that runs parallel and through each brace and ends in the back band molar tube.

Band: The metal ring that is cemented to each molar. These also have hooks for elastic rubber band wear and may have a tube specifically for Headgear wear located on the cheek side. On the tongue side there are also hooks called lingual cleats which can get flared and pushed back in with a pencil eraser or spoon.

K Hook or elastic hook: This metal hook may be added to the brace or will be one solid piece with the bracket.