Hi there, neighbor! We want you to know you can trust our team to be there when you need us the most. When an orthodontic emergency knocks on your door, you can trust everyone at Perkins Orthodontics to help you out!
Orthodontic emergencies might be alarming, but they’re not life-threatening, so you can coordinate with your orthodontist to get a professional solution at a convenient time for you.
Check out more about how our team can help you in those situations.
What Would Be Considered an Orthodontic Emergency?
Just to be clear, whenever you have a problem with your braces, aligners, or any other orthodontic appliance, you’ll be better off if you get in touch with your orthodontist’s office.
For patients with braces, some common orthodontic emergencies are:
- Dislodged or broken brackets,
- Loose wires,
- Mouth sores.
Patients who wear removable appliances and lose one of the trays (we’re begging you not to wrap your Invisalign aligners in a napkin when you go out to eat) should also get in touch with our office to get a replacement as soon as possible.
In short, anything that causes extreme discomfort or could potentially delay your treatment should prompt you to contact our office for guidance. And we’ll be happy to help!
As you may notice, these are not the most dangerous of situations when compared to other dental emergencies. In orthodontics, we don’t usually deal with life-threatening complications from a broken appliance.
If you notice uncontrollable bleeding, swelling, or enduring pain, you should contact emergency services to receive professional help before talking to a dental health professional.
How Do You Deal With Orthodontic Emergencies at Home?
That’s an excellent question!
Considering many of these situations are not life-threatening, there are many things you can do at home to alleviate your discomfort. First and foremost, if you have any sensations of mild pain, use an over-the-counter painkiller and keep track of how long you’ve been feeling like that.
You can fix loose wires with any blunt object and reposition it under a bracket while you wait for your next visit to the orthodontist. Dislodged brackets are not a challenging fix either; you can just slide them to the right position and leave them there until you get back to our office.
Always feel free to get in touch with our team and ask what you can do back home to alleviate any feelings of discomfort or mild pain.
A Team for Your Fort Worth Orthodontics Emergency
We love helping our patients in any way we can. We know accidents can happen, so we’re always ready to help our patients get their treatments back on track and avoid any discomforting situations that might impact your treatment’s efficiency.
We want to ensure all our patients have the help they require at the right time. You can trust that when you start your orthodontic treatment with the skilled team at Perkins Orthodontics, you’ll be staying in touch with a team that can look after you.
Get started with your orthodontic treatment, or contact us for any additional help you require. We would love to help you achieve your desired smile goals!
Frequently Asked Questions
What is an orthodontic emergency?
In orthodontics, emergencies are not the same as in general dentistry. Orthodontic emergencies are all the situations that threaten to damage your braces, aligners, retainers, or other appliance. These orthodontic emergencies are also a reason why your treatment could be delayed.
What is the most common orthodontic emergency?
One of the most common orthodontic emergencies is a loose bracket. Many patients decide to eat something their orthodontist advised against and end up loosening a bracket. Another recurring situation is a lost aligner or retainer because removable appliances are easily misplaced when you forget their case.
What qualifies as an orthodontic emergency?
Only situations that damage your orthodontic appliance and threaten to delay your treatment are true orthodontic emergencies. Anything else that results in pain, swelling, or bleeding is instead a dental emergency and should be treated in an ER setting to avoid any additional complications.
How do you deal with orthodontic emergencies?
The first step is to get in touch with your orthodontist to let them know about the situation and settle on what needs to be done to solve the situation permanently. Next up, you can try some DIY solutions at home to deal with the discomfort and prevent any additional damage.
What to do in an orthodontic emergency?
Depending on the nature of your accident, you can solve yours with a bit of orthodontic wax to help keep things in place or avoid any damage to your cheeks and gums. In other cases where you lost an aligner, you can ask your orthodontist to use your previous set of aligner trays and avoid delaying your treatment.
