When something goes wrong with your braces, it can be a real problem. That doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s an emergency or that someone’s in danger, but rather you or someone you love is suffering some pain and want a fix now. We understand that. We’re always glad to take your calls and walk you through the process, but problems often occur during office hours. We want to use this blog to solve some problems you might have when we aren’t there to take your call. So, we’ve laid out some common Winnetka braces issues and how to fix them quickly.

Let Us Help With Your Braces in Winnetka

It’s important to remember: before trying some of these, give us a call if it’s during office hours. Should you or someone you live with suffer a broken appliance or even one that’s just loose, call us promptly. This is the kind of phone call that we’ll always take if we’re in the office. We want you to be our client for a long period of time, and we take the responsibility of making your smile look as great as it can be very serious.

So, when you have an issue, and it’s on Monday from 9 to 4, Tuesday from 8 to 5, Wednesday/Thursday from 9 to 6, or Friday from 7 to 4, give us a call. We’ll help you through the process as best we can.

We’re Just a Phone Call Away

Calling us when someone has a problem with their braces or other appliances is the best way to go. It’s the quickest way that we can help. Just running over to us unannounced actually takes longer. We have so many patients with scheduled appointments that coming over here can slow things down. When you call, though, we can get right on your call and give you the help that you need. If you do call us after hours, feel free to leave a message. We’ll get right back to you as soon as we get in the next day. Obviously, that won’t help with discomfort during the night, hence this blog entry.

Common Issues With Braces

Too Loose Brackets

A loose bracket can be a real problem. It leads to a whole host of pain. That amount of discomfort can lessen even the fun of a great holiday get-together. So, we definitely recommend that you call us when a bracket gets too loose. For many of our patients, that means it’s time to get the bracket re-fitted. Scheduling a repair appointment is typically the best option here. Of course, that doesn’t help you at the moment. Should it become necessary, you can cut the wire and slide the bracket off the wire. However, before you do that, make sure that whatever you use to do has been washed and sterilized in alcohol. Many of our patients have found success making this cut with scissors or nail clippers.

Irritation From the Wire

Wire irritation can dampen any night or weekend. Moving the wire away from the irritated area is typically the first course of action (and probably one you would’ve tried before you read this blog). We recommend doing so with a cotton swab or eraser. That way, the move is gentler and has the least likelihood of causing further irritation. Should the wire itself cause a great deal of pain, do what the above paragraph said: cut it with clippers or scissors. Of course, only do that after the scissors or clippers have been sterilized in alcohol and thoroughly cleansed. Should the wire be obstinately unmoving, you may want to think about covering its end. You may be able to do that with a tiny amount of wax or a super small piece of cotton.

Soreness

We’ve come back in on many mornings to find messages asking us what to do about sore teeth from having new braces in. Should this happen, know that it’s a common problem. It doesn’t mean that anything is wrong; it just means that your body is adjusting to the new braces. Typically, we recommend non-aspirin painkillers. That means acetaminophen and the like. You may not even have to take anything for this. Sometimes, all it takes is a warm salt water rinse to get rid of the pain. Other options are to use a warm washcloth or even a small heating pad.

Contact Us Today for Help With Your Braces

Of course, a majority of our patients have no problems with any kind of braces. We just don’t want you to have to go through the holidays with discomfort. Should you suffer any of the above problems or any other concerns about your teeth/smile, contact us at (818) 629-1981. We can schedule an appointment with you to set up the smile you’ve always wanted through a phone call or a message at our site.