Emergency Care

No big deal, it happens, just move to the next aligner and wear until it would have been time to move on to the next one. If you lose the last aligner you have, move back to the previous aligner, and give us a call.

If you notice that your aligner is not seating completely on your teeth, or is not fitting properly, remove the aligner and make sure that the aligner is not folded in on itself. If the aligner is folded, carefully unfold the area and try inserting your aligner again. If the aligner looks distorted or warped, try in the next aligner. If the next aligner fits well, wear the new aligner for twice as long before going on to the next one. If you don't notice anything out of the ordinary with your aligner, make sure to get 21+ hours a day with your aligner and use chewies regularly to help seat the aligner. If you would like us to check the fit of your aligners you are welcome to text/email us a picture of your teeth with the aligners in place, or schedule a visit for us to take a look in the office.

If you notice a minor crack in your aligners this is usually no big deal, you can continue wearing your aligners as prescribed. Be sure to use caution while placing and removing your aligner to not make the crack worse. If your aligner has broken into multiple pieces, you can continue to wear it until it is time to switch to a new aligner. Sometimes repeated flicking of aligners can lead to cracking/breakage, and distortion of the aligners.

Try using a clean nail file to smooth down the sharp feeling area.

If one of your buttons came off that is currently being used for elastics, please save the button and call us to schedule a visit to put it back on. If a button comes off that is not currently being used, please save it and bring it with you to your next appointment. If you have an attachment off and your next visit is in the near future, give us a call to let us know so that we can add time to your check up to repair the. If your next appointment isn’t for awhile, we may suggest you come in sooner for repair, or sometimes it can wait without interrupting your progress.

If you notice a band (silver circle around a tooth) is loose on your appliance or something is broken off, try to keep it in place and give our office a call so we can address the issue.

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.

Using a pair of tweezers or needle-nosed pliers, try to put your 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.

If your wire is poking, it may just have slid around to one side, so you could try to slide it back. If that is not possible, you can try to trim the end with a finger nail cutter. You can also put wax over the wire and try to bend it with a pencil eraser.