True orthodontic emergencies are very rare, but when they do occur we are available to you. As a general rule, you should call the office when you experience severe pain or when you have a painful appliance problem that you can't take care of yourself. We'll be able to schedule an appointment to resolve the problem.

You might be surprised to learn that you may be able to temporarily solve many problems yourself until you schedule an appointment with our office. When working with your appliances, you need to know the names of the parts of your appliances so you are able to identify what part is broken or out of place. After alleviating your discomfort, it is very important that you still call our office as soon as possible to schedule a time to repair the problem. Allowing your orthodontic appliance(s) to remain damaged for an extended period of time may result in keeping your braces on longer than what had been originally estimated by Dr. Altherr.

• General Soreness

   

  When you begin orthodontic treatment, you may feel general soreness in your mouth and your teeth may be tender to biting pressures for 3-5 days. This temporary tooth soreness can be relieved with over the counter meds like Advil or Tylenol.  Some patients may get cheek ulcers than are not relieved by wax, cutting a long wire or salt-water rinses.  Dr. Altherr can prescribe certain meds to help the rare patient who gets these feel better.  As a general rule, when in doubt about something, please do not hesitate to contact us.

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• Headgear

   

  Sometimes headgear discomfort is caused by not wearing the headgear as instructed by your orthodontist. Please refer to the instructions provided by your orthodontist. If the facebow is bent, please call our office for assistance. Surprisingly, the headgear may hurt less as it's worn more, so be sure you're getting in the prescribed hours.
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• Loose Appliance

  

  If you think your appliance is loose or not fitting right or it’s poking, please give our office a call.

• Loose Bracket

   

  If your bracket or band is still attached to the wire, you should leave it in place and put wax on it. If the wire comes out entirely, wrap the bracket with a tissue, and please give our office a call.
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• Loose Wire

   

  Using a tweezer, try to put your wire back into place. If doing this and using wax doesn't help, as a last resort use a small fingernail clipper to clip the wire behind the last tooth to which it is securely fastened. If your discomfort continues, place wax on it, and contact our office for Dr. Altherr to evaluate.
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• Poking Wire

   

  Using a pencil eraser, push the poking wire down or place wax on it to alleviate the discomfort.
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