Dental emergencies are common incidents, whether they go to the dentist regularly or not. Ranging from severe toothaches, tooth fractures, bleeding gums, injured cheeks, and cut tongues, these ailments can be treated both in the hospital emergency rooms and dental clinics.
However, for people who have braces, these emergencies can come in different ways and may be worse than ordinary cases. If you are new to wearing braces, you might not even consider these aches as emergencies at all, thinking that it’s the mouth’s natural adjustment to the foreign material.
That kind of thinking is dangerous and it’s best that you go to the nearest emergency dentist in Sarnia, or whoever is close by, right away to ensure that your oral health is prioritized. As the saying goes, “better safe than sorry”.
To help you understand better what constitutes a dental emergency for someone who has braces, and what makes it different from other emergencies, here are some common dental emergencies that you should look out for:
- Bleeding and Swallowing Parts
Gum bleeding during the first few days of wearing a dental brace is sometimes expected. Especially if you’re case requires significant adjustments. However, if the bleeding has become excessive, with you feeling faint or your gums getting swollen, it’s better that you visit the dentist right away.
Constant bleeding is a risk for infection that needs to be treated right. If you have swallowed some parts of the braces or noticed some of the brackets missing, visit the dentist immediately.
- Mouth Sores
Oral sores and cuts are especially common in teenagers who had recently got their braces on. As they are at the point of puberty where development is always on the go, their oral cavities are most prone to injuries and cuts caused by the brackets.
Inspecting your child’s mouth regularly can help you keep track of the severity of these mouth sores. If it looks manageable, you should apply anesthetic creams for pain relief. If they are too widespread and sporadic, make sure to go back to your dentist for a brace readjustment or an overall change in brace material.
- Rubbing Irritations
Even with the lack of actual sores proving that the mouth is experiencing pain from the new braces, rubbing irritations can still be quite bothersome and a painful ordeal. To help your child deal with this, you can always offer them “relief” wax that may be coated at the areas of contact. This irritation is often caused by the friction created between the brackets and skin of the cheeks and lips.
- Oral Injuries Due to Accidents
Oral injuries due to accidents (depending on the severity) are fairly manageable for any dentist or surgeon. These accidents are usually encountered in sports activities. However, if the patient is wearing braces, encountering these accidents may be more dangerous than usual due to the danger of the brace scratching the gums, cheeks, or lips. Some parts may even get swallowed.
Shaking off the pain is also never an option since the gums are soft tissue that will need time to heal once injured. Once you’ve found yourself in an accident, make sure to have the braces readjusted or replaced for better and faster gum recovery. Use protection, like a mouth guard, when engaging in sports activities to protect your mouth from injuries.
- Loose Brackets
Serving both practical and decorative purposes, brace brackets can cause some of the most common dental emergencies for patients.
Due to their position (exposed to the exterior of the mouth), they are the most likely to snap off, which may ruin the entire adjustment process. Fortunately, brackets can’t easily be swallowed due to the wire connection.
- Wire Issues
Made of thinly-crafted metal ranging from materials such as stainless steel, Beta-Titanium, and Nickel-titanium, wire braces are durable materials. However, due to some errors in how they are placed, some of these wires may inflict too much pressure on the mouth causing discomfort, pain, and bleeding.
Poorly-made wires may even snap off and cause more injuries. Once this happens, make sure to visit your dentist immediately to have the brace or wires readjusted or replaced.
Visiting your dentist’s clinic should be a convenient thing to do. Their clinic should be near so that in case of any emergency, you can easily contact them, drive out, and have it fixed right away. Or you can also search for other clinics with good dentist reviews in Etobicoke.
While having your dental braces in Oshawa, do not forget to ask them if their clinic is available 24/7 for any dental emergencies. Now that you’ve got your braces on, make sure to respond accordingly to any dental concern or emergency that you experience. Do not just brush it off and assume it is a normal occurrence. Inform your dentist right away and let them decide.
