Orthodontic treatment can do much more than just achieve a beautiful, straight smile. In fact, braces can even improve your oral health. However, while braces are made to be incredibly durable, under some circumstances, you may have to deal with a broken wire or bracket.
How Do Orthodontic Damages Occur?
The wire and brackets of your braces can break for several reasons. Some of these reasons include:
- Injury to the mouth
- Trauma to the mouth
- A poor bond between the bracket and the tooth
- Using toothpicks roughly
- Using floss roughly
- Brushing teeth incorrectly
- Brushing teeth vigorously
- Bad habits such as biting your nails and chewing ice or pens
- Eating hard foods
- Eating sticky foods
- Eating crunchy foods
Broken braces can also cause cuts, discomfort, and abrasions to your mouth. If the issue isn’t fixed, it will make your treatment much less effective.
What You Need to Do
Here are some of the things you can do when you are dealing with damaged or broken braces:
- Check the damage – First of all, you need to check the damage and figure out what has gone wrong. You may find that you have a loose bracket, a loose or protruding wire, wobbly bands, loose spacers, or even loose separators. Once you are able to identify the issue, you can figure out your next step.
- Forget about superglue or any other adhesives – While it can often be very tempting to try and fix your broken braces yourself using some superglue or other types of adhesives, these are absolutely not meant to be used in your mouth at all. They are also very dangerous if swallowed. You should never attempt to fix your braces yourself. Instead, you should go see your dental provider.
- Rinse with warm salt water to prevent infection – Warm salt water rinses are the best way to reduce pain, irritation, and swelling in your mouth. They will even heal the cuts in your mouth. A saltwater rinse is very easy to prepare. You will just need to add ½ a teaspoon of table salt to 1 cup of warm water. Then, all you need to do is use the mixture as a mouthwash.
Most orthodontic or braces-related issues are often very minor. However, it is very important to have your mouth carefully examined. If you need urgent attention, get in touch with our friendly team here at I Song Orthodontics, based in Berkeley, El Cerrito, and the surrounding areas.
We are always happy to help!
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