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Emergency Care – Orthodontist Staten Island

Emergency Care

During the course of your orthodontic treatment, you may experience minor problems with your braces or appliances.

Thankfully, true emergencies that require you to be seen immediately in our office are very rare. If you experience severe pain or a problem you can’t resolve yourself, you should call our office to schedule an appointment. We’re here to help!

However, you can often temporarily correct a minor problem at home. Loose bands, poking or dislodged wires, tooth soreness, lost elastics and mouth sores are common issues that arise for many orthodontic patients.

Learning how to fix these problems on your own will not only save you time and trips to our office, but it will allow your orthodontic treatment to be as comfortable as possible.

General Soreness

When your braces are initially applied, you will feel general soreness in your mouth. Your teeth will be tender when you take bites of food. This discomfort usually lasts for three-to-five days, and can be lessened with these methods:

  • Dissolve one teaspoon of table salt in eight ounces of warm water, and rinse your mouth vigorously.
  • Place Orabase on sore areas. Orabase can be found in the tooth-care section of most drugstores.
  • Take an over-the-counter pain reliever like aspirin, acetaminophen or ibuprofen for severe tenderness.

The inside of your mouth may also become irritated for one or two weeks as the tongue, cheeks and gums toughen and become accustomed to the braces. Wax can help ease the
tenderness. We’ll show you how to put wax on your braces before you leave our office.

Loose Appliance

Place wax on your appliance if it is poking your mouth, tongue, gums or lips.

Loose Bracket

If one of the brackets or bands is loose and is still attached to the wire, leave it in place and put wax on it to provide stability. If the bracket comes out entirely, wrap it in a tissue until you can make an appointment to have it reapplied.

Loose Wire

If you have a loose wire, use tweezers to put your wire back into place. Add wax for stability. You can cut the wire with a pair of small fingernail clippers behind the tooth where the wire remains securely fastened. Place wax on the area if discomfort persists.

Animation of:Wax Placement

Poking Wire

If a wire is poking your mouth, use a pencil eraser to push the wire down or into its original position so that it’s not irritating the surrounding tissue. Place wax on it to alleviate any additional discomfort.

Animation of: Pokey Wire