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 are able to 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.

Many common orthodontic "emergencies" can easily be handled easily at home. To help you accurately describe an emergency situation, use the diagram below which illustrates and names each part of a typical set of braces.

1. Ligature
   The archwire is held to each bracket with a ligature, which can be either a tiny elastic or a twisted wire.
2. Archwire
   The archwire is tied to all of the brackets and creates force to move teeth into proper alignment.
3. Brackets
   Brackets are connected to the bands, or directly bonded on the teeth, and hold the archwire in place.
4. Metal Band
   The band is the cemented ring of metal which wraps around the tooth.

The following solutions may help you relieve your discomfort.

Sore Spot on Cheek - When you first get braces or an appliance, you may have sore spots develop. You can put wax on the bracket or wire that is rubbing your cheek until it heals. Your mouth will toughen up after a short while.

Soreness – Your Teeth Hurt - Rinse the mouth with warm salt water. Try a pain reliever that you would use for a headache or similar discomfort. Soreness can be expected for 3 to 5 days after a wire adjustment.

Loose Bracket or Band - A loose bracket may wait until your next appointment to be fixed. Leave attached to the wire. If uncomfortable, cover with wax. If it comes off the wire completely put in an envelope and bring to your next appointment. Do not connect rubberbands to a loose bracket or band.

Poking Wire - If wire or tie wire is protruding and poking you, bend the wire back with a pencil eraser or spoon. If this does not work, cover with wax or wet cotton ball until you can call the office and schedule an appointment to clip the wire.

Loose Wire - Using a tweezers, try to place 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. If your discomfort continues, place wax on it.

Herbst Appliance - Should appliance come apart when opening mouth too wide: look in mirror; open very wide; slip the rods or plungers into the tubes or sleeves of the upper part and close normally. Do the same thing if the arms on the herbst start to bind or feel like they won't slide freely. Don't force the arms to close.

If you have any bleeding, swelling, or constant pain that an over-the-counter pain reliever will not relieve, please call our office.

Please call your dentist or Dr. Davis immediately if you have an accident involving the teeth. Our emergency/after hours number is 336-803-1757.

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