My Bracket Is Loose: What Do I Do?

Oh! Your bracket is loose on your tooth! Or maybe it came off the tooth altogether! Now what?

Well, first:

Don’t panic.

Bracket breakage can happen! They can become loose on the tooth, lose one of their colored (or clear) ties, and brackets can even completely come off of your tooth, leaving them hanging awkwardly on the wire. The most important thing to realize is that this is a simple fix! And we’re here to help walk you through it, step by step.

STEP 1- Let’s evaluate the issue. Some questions you may want to ask yourself are:

Which tooth is it that the bracket feels loose on?

Is that the only bracket with an issue?

Is it poking or causing any discomfort?

Can you not pinpoint the reason it came loose or completely off?

Take a look at the rest of your braces – is there anything else that should be addressed when you come in to take care of this bracket?

STEP 2: The next step is to properly evaluate why this happened so that your orthodontist can address the issue and hopefully save you any future trouble. Consider the following:

Did you bite into something hard or sticky? (If so, definitely don’t do this again!)

Have you been neglecting your brushing?

Have you been brushing too aggressively?

Has this tooth lost a bracket in the past?

All of these questions are important in determining what went wrong so that you may discuss with your orthodontist how you can prevent this from occurring in the future. If you don’t know how it happened, that’s okay, too! The important part is…

STEP 3: Call us!

We can help walk you through ways to stay comfortable (wax is your best-friend for those poking and scratchy brackets) and work diligently to get the bracket fixed and have you back on track for your treatment plan.

Because here’s the big reason why we want to make sure to address these in a timely manner: losing brackets means that your braces usually aren’t working at the full capacity your orthodontist was aiming for. The longer you go without addressing the loose or missing bracket, the longer you may be extending your treatment time. Having all teeth except for one engaged means that the singular tooth that is not engaged is not moving the way it was intended. All it takes is one bad apple (or tooth) to throw off the whole bunch!

Always remember to be cognizant of your braces so that you can stay on track throughout your orthodontic journey, allowing you to get to your happiest, healthiest smile as quickly as possible!

Don’t make your tooth wait to be reunited with its bracket! Call us today!