Ann Arbor Orthodontics
Patients who encounter discomfort during treatment may call us during business hours. In the meantime, try our simple at-home fixes for fast relief. If these helpful tips still don’t work you may call or text our Emergency Phone at (734) 975-8730.
When your braces are placed on your teeth, you may feel general soreness, and your teeth may be tender to biting pressure for the first few days. This can be relieved by taking medication such as Ibuprofen (known by the brand names Advil or Motrin), or anything you take for relieving pain or a headache. Lips, cheeks and tongue may also become irritated and can be relieved by rinsing your mouth with a warm salt water rinse. Dissolve one teaspoonful of salt in 8 ounces of warm water, and rinse your mouth three times a day. Placing wax on any rough edges may make these feel softer to the touch. ORABASE or ORALGEL, which can be found at the pharmacy, applied to sensitive soft tissues, may also help.
If your bracket or band is still attached to the wire, leave it in place and put wax on it. If the bracket detaches from the wire entirely, please call the office the next business day and bring it in with you to your emergency appointment.
Using a pencil eraser, push the poking wire down or place wax on it to alleviate the discomfort.
If your retainers break, crack or become distorted due to heat, place the remaining parts and wires in your retainer box. Call our office as soon as possible for an emergency appointment and bring them with you. We will either have them repaired or replaced by our lab.
If your Rapid Palatal Expander feels loose, moving up and down on one or both of your molars, the cement seal may have broken and may be causing discomfort or inflammation to your gums around the bands of the appliance. Do not turn the expander any more with the key, and call the office immediately so we can re-cement it as soon as possible.
Using an eyebrow tweezer, try to put your wire back in place feeding it through the little hole in the tube of the back molar. If this is too hard to do, use wax to secure it to the tube or bracket it has come loose from. If this does not help, as a last resource use a small fingernail clipper to clip the wire behind the last tooth to which the wire is securely fastened, and place wax on the end of the wire. Call our office to have this emergency taken care of the following working day.
