Emergency Care

Relieve Pain & Fix Braces & Clear Aligner Issues

Although orthodontic emergencies are rare, some issues may cause you discomfort. Fortunately, many such problems can be temporarily solved at home until you can visit our office.

Painful rubbing and poking, loose pieces of braces and wires that have slipped out of place can all be temporarily resolved with a little know-how.

After alleviating your discomfort, it is very important that you still contact our office to schedule a time for us to correct the issue properly. Allowing your appliance to remain damaged for an extended period of time may result in disruptions to your treatment plan.

See below for how to relieve general discomfort and temporarily resolve appliance issues until you can see your orthodontist for care. If you experience severe discomfort, please call the office immediately.

Ways To Resolve Appliance Issues & Discomfort

• 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. Stick to a soft diet until it does not hurt your teeth when you chew.

  Rubbing brackets and wires 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 three 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 Bracket

  Loose brackets (square metal pieces) can sometimes occur when 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 neighbouring bracket. It will prevent the bracket from sliding around until you can come in to see us.

• Loose Wire

  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.