Emergency
The word emergency is frightening. It can set the pace of your heart at an unprecedented rate. There are times when we land up in many emergencies and of different kinds. One of the worst emergencies is the health emergency as it questions life and death.
Even Dentistry has some situations that are categorized as emergencies as the pain intensity cannot be bearable even for a second and may cause many ill effects. One of the orthodontic emergencies or ortho emergencies.
If you have not heard of one, then this article is a must as it may be helpful to you, your family, your friend, or anybody when an ortho emergency arises. This article will equip you to handle ortho emergencies.
What is Ortho Emergency
Orthodontic Treatment is a procedure to fix the alignment of your teeth and for smile improvement. Orthodontic treatment procedures generally involve braces but at the same time wearing braces can be traumatic and painful.
When you get the braces affixed, initially you will feel some uneasiness in your mouth. The wires and brackets can sometimes hurt and cause pain, or even cause damage to the cheeks and lips. This situation requires emergency orthodontics to relieve you.
Identify which ortho emergency you’re suffering
Orthodontic emergencies are of a few types. Therefore, it’s important to identify which ortho emergency is there and evaluate the circumstances which include
- Oral Bleeding
- A swallowed device
With the installation of braces, some kind of discomfort is natural and it will leave some anxiety in you which is perfectly fine to experience at the same time be ready even to tackle soreness since it’s a common condition post braces installation.
Nevertheless, intake of soft foods will help you relieve soreness in such situations, soft foods are one of the best ways to reduce the amount of soreness.
Mouth Sores
When the braces are installed on your teeth, initially you may experience soreness in your mouth, and for up to a week, the biting process would become difficult for you and the teeth will become tender.
The best way is to have soft foods during this time until the chewing process does not hurt your teeth anymore. You may even have sore spots or irritated gums which can be relieved by gargling with a warm saltwater solution. Extensively rinse your mouth with the warm saltwater solution, and you feel relaxed.
Rubbing Irritations
Some people may not be having soreness in the mouth, but they end up with a rubbing irritation. You can use orthodontic wax, to get rid of those irritations.
The rubbing irritations result from the friction that happens every time against your lips due to brackets on your teeth. Orthodontic wax can be applied to the brackets which will reduce the friction and thereby prevent causing irritation and even sores.
Oral Cavity Accidents
There are countless types of oral cavity accidents and thereby they vary in emergencies. It comprises many accidents. The foremost point to take notice of is that if any damage has occurred to your oral activity, you need to visit your dentist immediately.
The healing process for soft tissues is of longer duration and there may be a need to adjust your braces back to their proper place, which will be done by your dentist if required. To avoid all this overall, ask your dentist to provide you a mouth gear that helps you to protect your teeth.
Loose Brackets
The square metal devices cemented to your braces are known as brackets. At times, they can snap off. Fortunately, you need not worry as they have a wire which interconnected, and it will stick to the wire without creating many problems. But you will have to visit your dentist to fix it or else it may cause further impairment.
Problem with wires
To maintain pressure on your teeth, the wires are threaded all through the brackets to keep them in the right position. However, these wires are vulnerable and can come off due to chewing or just abruptly snap off. This will cause the area to become loose. Such breaking of the wire can cause many discomforts like it will twig out from the tooth, hurt the cheek inside, or give general uneasiness.
The only way to fix it is to replace the wire and you must visit the orthodontist. Visit the dentist as soon as possible to prevent further damage.
Missing Rubber Bands
Rubber bands are used to address the bite problems. They are applied to your braces. Several bite problems include overbites, crossbites, and underbites. These are present across the teeth at a series of angles. Such an arrangement is done to generate an angular force against the teeth.
Rubber bands falling off are a common scenario and if they fall out, you’re supposed to remove and substitute the bands throughout the treatment as and when needed. If any of them are lost, feel free to replace them with the one provided to you by your dentist.
There are chances that you may even end up swallowing the band, relax there is no need to worry at all since they are non-toxic. Nevertheless, ensure you mention it to your orthodontist if you have mistakenly swallowed any.
An emergency orthodontist situation can occur to anyone at any time. If the emergency is to the tooth, extra attention and vigilance are required from your side. If you end up in any ortho emergency, please contact a dentist and stay calm during the transit. They will help you with all the issues you’re facing and will adhere to your qualms patiently.
If you end up anytime with the question of an emergency orthodontist near me then contact your nearest dentist to avoid further complications.
Dr. Jena Shah Dental Director of Sabka dentist says “Health emergencies are a part of our life and common feature of treatment but what differentiates is how we handle them.”
Dr. Preethi Nagarajan Dental director of Sabka dentist says “Parents must be more cautious about kids and regularly check their mouth as they may not understand the grave issue it can create.”
Dr. Manan Dhulia Dental Director of Sabka dentist says “The primary person to look for in orthodontic emergency is the resident doctor because in case of longer waiting period the problems multiply.”
One thought on “Methods for Handling Orthodontic Emergencies”
Great article. well written