Emergency Care

True orthodontic emergencies are very rare, but when they do occur we are available to you. After office hours, an emergency contact phone number is available on our answering machine. 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 will schedule an appointment to take care of the discomfort or pain right away. An additional appointment may need to be made to correct the problem (rebond loose bracket, recement loose band, replace broken archwire, etc).

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. 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. Allowing your appliance to remain damaged for an extended period of time may result in disruptions in your treatment plan.

The following solutions may help you relieve your discomfort:

Poking Wire

Using a pencil eraser, push the poking wire down or place wax on it to alleviate the discomfort.

Loose Bracket or Band

If your bracket or band is still attached to the wire, you should leave it in place and put wax on it. Please call our office (Monday - Thursday) to schedule an appointment to have the bracket or band replaced.

Loose Wire

Leave it alone and call our office Monday - Thursday for an appointment.

Loose Appliance

If your appliance is poking you, place wax on the offending part of your appliance.

General Soreness

When you get your braces on, your teeth may be tender to biting pressure for three to five days. Discomfort to the teeth can be reduced by taking what you normally would take for a headache or similar pain.

The lips, cheeks, and tongue may also become irritated for one to two weeks as they toughen and become accustomed to the surface of the braces. You can put wax on the braces to lessen this. Also, rinsing your mouth with a warm salt water mouthwash may help. Dissolve one teaspoonful of salt in 8 ounces of warm water and rinse your mouth vigorously. Placing Orabase on the affected area may help; this can be found in a pharmacy. If this concern does not improve in several days, call our office Monday - Thursday for an appointment.