Occasionally, some patients will experience an 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
During your Orthodontic care, appliances and wires can become bent or broken.If there are any disturbances such as loose bands or bracket, broken or poking wires, please call our office during business hours to schedule an appointment. Unfortunately, we can not handle walkins but will try to accommodate your schedule as much as possible. 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. If this occurs, it is important to contact our office immediately to schedule an appointment as your teeth will not continue to move. If you feel your attempt to rectify the situation was not complete, feel free to call our office to schedule an appointment during regular business hours.
- A broken or poking archwire can often be bent in with a pencil eraser or cut with nail clippers. Call our office, during patient hours, if you do not feel the problem has been resolved properly.
- The video below will help explain how to handle an orthodontic situation/emergency.
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 contact your general dentist or doctor if necessary 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, contact your general dentist or doctor if necessary for immediate attention as we do not have the necessary materials or anesthesia required to treat those 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.
After Office Hours
If a true emergency arises and you cannot correct the problem at home and/or the patient is in pain, please call our office and the service will instruct you to reach one of our employees to assist you.