Problems braces

A loose bracket is probably the most common issue with braces. However, you don’t need to come in right away.

A loose bracket often occurs due to eating hard or sticky foods or from an accident. If the bracket is still attached to the wire, just leave it as is until your next scheduled appointment. In the meantime, be extra cautious about what you eat (avoid sticky or hard foods).

If the bracket has completely come loose in your mouth, feel free to throw it away. We’ll bond a new bracket during your next appointment. The same applies if you accidentally swallow a bracket.

If multiple brackets have come loose, we recommend that you contact us.

If the metal archwire of your braces is poking into your cheek or tongue, you don’t need to come in for an immediate consultation. To relieve the discomfort until your next appointment, you can try:

• Cutting the poking end with a small pliers or nail clippers. Do this only if you don’t have an immediate solution available.
• Temporarily covering the poking end with orthodontic wax. We gave you this wax in a green maintenance box when your braces were placed. If you can’t find it or it has been used up, you can come by and get a new box or have one mailed to you. You can also generally purchase this wax at your local pharmacy. You can eat and drink while the wax is in place. If you swallow it, it won’t harm your health. If you remove the wax, remember to apply a fresh ball of wax afterward.

If your retainer wire has come loose, it can cause your teeth to shift. It’s important to contact us so we can schedule an appointment to fix it.

In many cases, we can reattach the retention wire. Until then, avoid putting pressure on the wire and stay away from sticky foods to prevent the wire from warping.

However, keep in mind that if the wire is too bent, it may no longer be possible to reattach it, and in that case, we will need to provide a new retention wire.

A broken piece of retention wire can cause your teeth to move again. It’s best to contact us so we can schedule an appointment to address it.

Sometimes, we can simply replace the broken piece with a new one. However, often we need to create and place a new retention wire if the existing one is too damaged. Please be aware that this will incur an additional cost.

If you have hooks on your braces where you attach elastics, and one has come loose, your bite correction will no longer work properly.

Simply remove the elastics from both sides of the hook and contact us to make an appointment. You can discard the loose hook. We will replace it when you come in.

If you have bone-supported butterfly braces and it seems like a screw is loose of the mini-orthodontic implant, please contact us right away so we can schedule an appointment as soon as possible.