My bracket is Out! What happens next?
Although good Orthodontic treatment ensures a good bond between your braces and your teeth, sometimes some damaging habits could lead to the bracket to pop out. This could happen when:
1. Most often while eating any hard, crunchy or sticky foods
2. Fiddling with the wire or braces
3. Pencil or nail biting habit
4. It can also happen if any of your upper teeth are touching the lower brackets
While it’s always important to be very careful to not do any of these things, what happens once the bracket is out?
1. The bracket starts hanging loosely on the wire like a clothes peg.
2. The bracket or tube could come out into your mouth. It could accidently be swallowed at this point
3. The wire might get bent or spring out poking you in the cheek or gums
4. The tooth might start to move back to how it was before
5. You might not be able to wear your elastics since the bracket or tube holding the elastic is now moving
What to do when this happens?
1. Use the orthodontic wax to stick the bracket onto the teeth temporarily or to prevent the wire from poking and causing an ulcer.
2. If you want to be brave try to gingerly use a tweezer to remove the hanging bracket
3. Contact your clinic where any dentist can snip off the wire or remove the bracket to give you relief
4. Let your Orthodontist know what all changes you’ve noticed so that he can arrange an appointment to fix everything
5. If you have swallowed it, do not worry, brackets hardly cause any harm.
6. In case of ulcer ask your pharmacist for a topic ulcer gel.
7. If you feel your teeth are still hitting on some brackets , inform your orthodontist so he can give you a bite block and create a gap between the two.
Remember, broken brackets could mean a loss of time and money in your braces treatment. Be sure to take the maximum care to avoid the habits which can do this.
