Orthodontic Emergencies

This isn’t an emergency, but it can be uncomfortable or embarrassing. It’s easily fixed with a piece of dental floss.

Try tying a small knot in the middle of the floss to help remove the food or use an interproximal brush or toothpick to dislodge food caught between your teeth and your braces.

After you get your braces on, some people feel some soreness and teeth can become tender when you eat for three to five days after your braces are put on.

Saltwater rinses or the placement of a gum numbing gel like Orajel on the affected area can reduce the discomfort. If those don’t work, ibuprofen can help relieve the tenderness.

To address irritation on the inner cheeks and lips, we suggest placing dental wax on the braces.

Separators are often used to open a space between your teeth so that bands can be placed on molar teeth. The separators are usually only in place for 7-14 days before they are removed and replaced with bands.

It’s not usual for the separators to become loose and fall out. Don’t worry about losing one but please call our office to see if it needs to be replaced.

You may be susceptible to mouth sores. While your braces don’t cause them, they may be made worse by irritation from braces.

One or several patches of sores may appear on the cheeks, lips or tongue. This is not an emergency, but it may be very uncomfortable for you.

Get quick relief by applying a small amount of topical anesthetic (such as Orabase or Ora-Gel) directly to the area with sores using a cotton swab.

You can reapply as needed.

Brackets are the individual brace that is placed on a tooth. Should a bracket fall off, please place the bracket in a Ziploc bag and call our office.

If the bracket becomes loose but is still attached to the wire, just place some wax on it and leave it in place until we can schedule a visit to fix it.

Wires can move around when braces are placed, so while it is not common, wires can poke and irritate your cheeks.

We suggest putting wax over the wire or pushing the wire down with the end of a pencil eraser to alleviate the discomfort.

If a wire gets severely bent from a tooth hitting it, the wire can become dislodged from the brackets.

When this happens, there are 2 ways to handle it: either use a tweezer to attempt to place the wire back into place or use a fingernail clipper to clip the wire behind the last tooth that it is securely tied.

Place wax on the excess wire if it continues to cause irritation and call our office so we can fix the wire.

If you are in Invisalign treatment and you accidentally lose an Invisalign tray, please give us a call to see what can be done.

Everyone's treatment is prescribed differently, and resolutions can vary between patients.

Attachments are used in Invisalign treatment to help the tray fit your teeth and help move your teeth throughout treatment.

If an attachment is displaced or broken, the tooth does not move in the tray effectively, which may prolong treatment.

Call us immediately to see what can be done.

This is rare, but when it does happen, it can be alarming. It’s important to stay calm.

If you're coughing excessively or having difficulty breathing, you may have inhaled the piece into your airways or lungs.

If you can see the piece, you may carefully attempt to remove it.

DO NOT try if you could cause harm.

If appropriate under the circumstances, examine your braces for problems that may result from the missing piece, such as looseness or irritation, and treat as specified above.

If you can’t see the piece and believe you may have inhaled it, call Dr. Humphrey immediately.