Your Quick and Easy Guide to Solving Common Orthodontic Problems

Wearing braces is a small price to pay in exchange for straight teeth and a megawatt smile. Your braces might suffer the occasional mishap from time to time, but there is no reason for you to be alarmed.

Dealing with a Broken Bracket

This common inconvenience can happen due to eating certain foods or chewing on objects such as pens and pencils. If you notice any of those metal brackets gliding freely along the wire, then they are definitely broken.

Orthodontic wax is the answer in this situation. Simply cover the loose bracket with the wax to keep it from moving. If wax is not available, and the bracket was not a source of discomfort, then you can get it fixed during your upcoming dental appointment.

Properly Handling a Loose Ligature

The ligature is a small rubber band that is stretched around the bracket. If this rubber band fell off, you can put it back in place using sterile tweezers. Keep an eye out for other loose rubber bands and your tweezers on standby just in case.

Putting an End to a Poking or Loose Wire

Your braces come with a small thin wire that fits into the available slots found in each small bracket. Sometimes, biting and chewing on food can cause this wire to become loose and it may end up digging into your gums.

The best way to get rid of this uncomfortable situation is to push the wire back into place using a Q-tip or even a pencil eraser. Another option is to use orthodontic wax to cover the wire until your next dental appointment.

If wax is not available, then you can cut off the wire using sharp fingernail clippers. Make sure to place a folded piece of tissue paper around the area to avoid swallowing the wire by accident.

Healing Your Mouth Sores

Sores can make a painful appearance in areas like the surface of the tongue, the lips or inside the mouth where their presence can be incredibly uncomfortable. Using a topical anesthetic such as Orabase or Ora-Gel can come in handy. The anesthetic will numb your sores and gradually heal them.

Removing Food Stuck In Your Braces

There is nothing more annoying than food getting stuck in between your teeth and behind your braces. This situation is easily solvable using a piece of dental floss.

All you need to do is tie a knot in the middle of the floss to help get rid of those annoying food particles. If floss was not available, you can use a small brush called an interdental brush.

This brush is designed to clean hard-to-reach areas, so you’ll be able to use it to remove food and plaque from around the edges of the brackets.

The aforementioned tips will help make your orthodontic treatment more bearable and worth it in the long run.

References:

Solve Your Orthodontic Problems with These Quick Tips

https://www.perfectgrin.com/solve-your-orthodontic-problems-with-these-quick-tips/

How to fix your braces

http://www.torqueortho.com.au/orthodontic-care/orthodontic-problems/