Emergency Orthodontic Care

Emergency Orthodontic Care – An Overview

There is a very rare possibility of any emergency occurring with respect to dental issues. Most of the dental issues do not get you into an emergency situation but yes sometimes, dental issues might lead to pain and irritation or discomfort.

Here is a run down some of these issues and how to deal with them.

Ligature issues – This issue arising when you use brackets. Fine wires or rubber bands are used to hold the brackets. At times the ligatures may become loose and stick to your lip. This could lead to irritation. Hence, when a ligature goes loose you may tighten it by bending it back with the help of a rubber attached on the back of pencils.

Mouth Sores – If you wear braces, getting mouth sores might just be a common possibility with you. This does lead to irritation, discomfort and mouth ulcers. At such times, mouth wash and warm salt water gargles do help out in suppressing the pain and discomfort.

Swallowing – If you by mistake swallow some piece related to your braces, when you are wearing braces then, its better to consult the doctor immediately. The symptoms include sneezing, coughing or wheezing.

Loose Brackets and more – If you wear braces, you usually are aware of these issues. These brackets tend to loosen up due to chewing or eating crunchy or hard foods. This can lead to problems like discomfort due to bracket sticking out. When such an issue occurs you can easily use a sterile tweezer to slide the bracket along the wire. Then you need to rotate it inorder to get it back to its usual position.

Wire Protruding – As mentioned before if a wire becomes loose, you can use a pencil with a rubber end to push the wire against the tooth so as to avoid the irritation it causes. In case it becomes unbearable contact your orthodontist immediately. If it is not causing any discomfort, better to leave it as it is until your next appointment with the doctor. Only in an exceptional case when you cannot reach an orthodontist and the discomfort is too bad, simply cut the protruding wire with sharp clippers. Do take care of not swallowing the piece of wire that gets snipped. To protect yourself from doing so you may fold the tissue paper around that area. Also apply some relief wax on the area.

Having said that, it is advisable to reach out to the orthodontist or the dentist when dental issues occur.