ProviderPain Relief & Temporary Repairs for Orthodontic Appliances
While severe orthodontic discomfort is rare, minor issues can crop up during treatment that can cause soreness. Many situations can be temporarily managed at home with simple solutions to keep you comfortable until your next appointment.
Painful rubbing and poking, loose pieces of braces and wires that have slipped out of place, can all be temporarily resolved with a little know-how.
After alleviating your discomfort, it is very important that you still contact our office to schedule a time for us to correct the issue properly. Allowing your appliance to remain damaged for an extended period of time may result in disruptions to your treatment plan.
Below, we provide some easy tips and tricks that you can try at home to relieve general discomfort and temporarily resolve appliance issues until you can see your orthodontist for care.
Easy At-Home Repairs for Common Orthodontic Issues
Experiencing an orthodontic discomfort issue? Below are some simple, quick fixes to help relieve general discomfort and temporarily resolve appliance issues until you can see your orthodontist for care.
General Soreness
When your braces are first fitted, you may feel general soreness in your mouth, and your teeth may be tender to biting pressures for three to five days. Stick to a soft diet until it does not hurt your teeth when you chew.
Irritated gums and other sore spots can be soothed by rinsing your mouth with a warm saltwater mouthwash.
Dissolve one teaspoonful of salt in eight ounces of warm water and rinse your mouth vigorously. If the tenderness is severe, take Acetaminophen (Tylenol®) or whatever you normally take for a headache or similar pain. Aspirin, ibuprofen (Motrin®, Advil®), and Naproxen sodium (Naprosyn®, Anaprox®) actually slow tooth movement, so it is not advisable to use them frequently while wearing braces.
Your lips, cheeks, and tongue may become irritated for a week or two as your mouth adjusts to your new braces. Placing orthodontic wax on top of your braces can often provide immediate relief. We'll show you how!
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 needed for comfort. If the bracket or band can be removed easily, place it in an envelope and save it to bring to your next appointment.
Loose Wire
Using a pair of tweezers or needle-nosed pliers, try to put the wire back into place. It is okay to use a piece of floss to tie the wire into place: tie the floss around the bracket in place of the missing colored o-ring.
If you cannot put the wire into a comfortable position and covering the end with 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 the end of the wire is still sharp, place wax on it.
Loose Appliance
If your appliance is loose, please contact our office so that we can get you in promptly to have the appliance repaired.
If your appliance is poking you, go ahead and place orthodontic wax on the problematic part while you wait for your appointment.
Poking Wire
Using a pencil eraser, push the poking wire down or place wax on it so that it is no longer poking.
Lost or Damaged Aligner
If an aligner is lost or damaged, call us to let us know. Then, you can either go back to wearing the aligner you used right before the one you lost (if you still have it) or put in your next aligner early.
Which option is best will depend on how long you wore the lost aligner. If you had only just started wearing the lost aligner, go back to the previous one. If you wore the lost aligner for over a week, it may be best to move to the next one.