Emergency Orthodontist — Bend, OR

Orthodontic Care Right When You Need It

True orthodontic emergencies are rare, but when they occur we are available to you. As a general rule, you should call our orthodontic office when you experience severe pain or have a painful appliance problem you can't take care of yourself. We'll be able to schedule an appointment to resolve the problem with emergency orthodontic care in our Bend, OR orthodontic office. For emergency orthodontic care right when you need, don’t hesitate to give us a call!

Why Choose Struble Orthodontics for Emergency Dental Care?

  • Same-Day Emergency Appointments Available
  • Team of Highly-Experienced Professionals Focused On Your Comfort
  • Dedicated to Affordable, High-Quality Orthodontic Care

What to Do in an Orthodontic Emergency

woman in need of an emergency orthodontist in Bend

If you think you or a loved one may be experiencing an orthodontic emergency, it’s important to keep your cool. All you need to do is call Struble Orthodontics to get your smile and your treatment back on track! Here’s what to do in an orthodontic emergency:

  • Step 1: Call us right away. We do everything we can to see emergency patients the same day they call us, so don’t hesitate to reach out! Over the phone, we’ll also walk you through what you can do to manage your situation from home.
  • Step 2: See your Bend emergency orthodontist. When you arrive, one of our orthodontists will see you right away for evaluation. From there, we can review our findings with you and explain how we recommend treating the problem.
  • Step 3: Get the care you need. In the majority of cases, we’ll be able to fix your orthodontic emergency right away quickly and easily. Rarely, we may need to schedule you for a follow-up appointment or refer you to your general dentist for extra treatment. Whatever is needed, we’ll help you regain your happy, healthy smile in no time!

The Most Common Orthodontic Emergencies

You might be surprised to learn that you may be able to solve many problems yourself temporarily until you can get to our orthodontic office. After alleviating your discomfort, it is very important that you still call our orthodontic office as soon as possible to schedule a time to repair the problem. Allowing your appliance to remain damaged for an extended period of time may result in disruptions to your treatment plan. Here are some of the most common orthodontic emergencies we treat:

Keys to Preventing Orthodontic Emergencies

Orthodontist checking smiling patient's braces

Fortunately, broken brackets, loose wires, and the like happen quite rarely. In fact, with the right habits in place, it’s very likely that you’ll go through your entire orthodontic treatment without any problems at all! So, if you aren’t already, make sure you implement the following best practices:

Visit Your Dentist Regularly

Orthodontic assistant and patient smiling at reflection in mirror

The development of cavities can bring your treatment plan to a stop, at least temporarily. However, that’s not the only reason you need to visit your dentist for a checkup and cleaning every six months. At these appointments, your dental team removes plaque, tartar, and other debris that you might have missed. This is crucial because brushing and flossing around the brackets and wires can take some adjusting to, and you don’t want a serious oral health issue developing because of that.

Maintain Good Oral Hygiene At Home

Closeup of woman with braces smiling while brushing her teeth

To remove food particles and other debris from your teeth and gums on a daily basis, you need to brush, floss, and rinse with an antimicrobial mouthwash consistently. It can also be helpful to switch up the oral hygiene tools you use during your orthodontic treatment, like getting a water flosser or interproximal toothbrush. These will help you thoroughly clean your mouth, reducing your chances of developing tooth decay, gum disease, and the like.

Abide by the Dietary Restrictions

Man sitting at table while eating salad

Avoiding raw nuts, hard pretzels, tortilla chips, and other crunchy foods might be difficult at first, especially if they were a staple in your diet before getting braces. However, these items can easily cause a bracket to break or a wire to snap, which can be both stressful and inconvenient to handle. That’s why we recommend filling your plate with nutrient-dense foods that are a bit softer, like cooked vegetables, oatmeal, and plain yogurt.

Wear a Mouthguard

Orthodontist holding white and blue mouthguard

There’s no way around it; if you participate in sports, you need to wear a mouthguard. In fact, even if you surf, skateboard, run, or are involved in another non-contact sport, it’s still recommended that you have one. After all, the last thing you want is a bad fall to break your braces (or your teeth!). The good news is that you don’t have to go far to find a custom mouthguard – our team at Struble Orthodontics can help!

Use Tools to Open Packages, Not Your Teeth

Patient using bottle cap opener

In short, you should never use your teeth to open a bottle of soda, bite your nails, or hold your car keys. Your teeth aren’t designed to withstand that level of pressure, and your braces aren’t either. So, it’s likely that your teeth will crack or your braces will break.

Understanding the Cost of Emergency Orthodontics

The moment an orthodontic emergency occurs, you may not immediately think about the cost that is required to treat the problem. However, shortly after, you might start thinking about whether it’s a severe enough issue to warrant a trip to your orthodontist's office. The reality is that your smile should not suffer just because you’re concerned about the expense of treatment. At Struble Orthodontics, we will discuss the cost of your orthodontic emergency and go over ways to keep the price as low as possible.

Every Orthodontic Emergency is Different

Treating soft tissue irritation or a broken ligature is likely to incur different costs. The same can be said for broken brackets and protruding wires. Each situation is unique, which means the price is as well. The only way to determine how much you can expect to pay is by meeting with our emergency orthodontist in Bend. They will evaluate the problem and its severity before deciding how to fix it.

Once a plan is made to improve the state of your smile, we will explain the details as well as how much you will be expected to pay out of pocket.

Does Dental Insurance Cover Orthodontic Emergencies?

Orthodontic emergencies are different from traditional dental injuries; however, it’s possible that your dental insurance plan will pay a portion of the cost. Reviewing your policy beforehand will help you better understand what is and is not covered as well as how much you will be responsible for with or without your insurance company’s help. You can also count on a member of our team to assist you with this process, making sure you get the most out of your available benefits.

Taking Care of Your Smile Can Save You Money

Wearing braces requires you to follow various guidelines to minimize your risk of an orthodontic emergency. While not all situations are avoidable, you can practice good oral hygiene, maintain your regular follow-up appointments with our team, see your dentist for six-month dental checkups and cleanings, avoid hard foods that can break your appliances, and wear proper mouth protection while playing sports.

Doing these things will keep you out of the orthodontist’s office for any unexpected injury.

Toothaches

Is a toothache an emergency?

Some level of discomfort is normal during orthodontic treatment. Because pressure is being placed on your teeth to move them, it is common for the mouth to feel sore – especially after braces are tightened. However, sometimes toothaches can indicate that something more serious is going on. If your pain doesn’t go away, is getting worse, or you are feeling sharp pain when biting down, you are likely dealing with a dental emergency.

How you should handle toothaches:

If your tooth pain hasn’t gone away after several days, give us a call to let us know what’s going on. We will see you as soon as we can so we can get to the root of the issue. In the meantime, over-the-counter pain relievers and ice packs can help to ease swelling and discomfort. Rinsing with salt water can also help by killing bacteria from a potential infection.

Loose Bracket

Is a loose bracket or wire an emergency?

This type of issue doesn’t usually cause pain, so it isn’t an urgent dental emergency. However, you still need it fixed quickly to ensure that your treatment stays on track. If you notice that a bracket or wire is loose, give us a call to let us know.

How you should handle a loose bracket or wire:

If the bracket or wire is completely off, bring it with you to your appointment if you can. If it is still somewhat in place, you can try to use orthodontic wax to keep it in place. In most cases, we can easily reattach and restabilize your braces and send you on your way.

Broken Wire

Is a broken bracket or wire an emergency?

This type of situation is more urgent than a loose bracket or wire because the damaged braces may poke at your soft tissues. Don’t attempt to fix this yourself. You could end up further damaging the braces or accidentally hurting your smile. Instead, give us a call.

How you should handle a broken bracket or wire:

Collect any pieces that have broken off and bring them with you to your appointment. If there are any sharp spots in your mouth, cover them with dental wax or sugar-free gum until you can see us.

Poking Wire

Is a poking or protruding wire an emergency?

Over time, this can cause irritation to the soft tissues in your mouth. This could even lead to an infection of the soft tissues. This isn’t something that you need to deal with, so let us know if you are having this issue.

How you should handle a poking or protruding wire:

Using a cotton swab, gently move the protruding wire back into place. You could also apply some orthodontic wax or sugarless gum over the wire to keep it from poking you. We can help you put it back into place and make sure that your orthodontic treatment is still on track!

Mouth Sores

Are mouth sores or irritation an emergency?

Mouth sores from braces are normal at first, as your soft tissues need time to adjust to the presence of brackets and wires. They should heal and become more comfortable after a few weeks.

How you should handle mouth sores or irritation:

If your mouth sores aren’t improving or they are starting to hurt more, give us a call. We can check out the area and help to relieve your discomfort.

Broken Ligature

Is a broken ligature an emergency?

When you’re wearing ligatures (or rubber bands) it is usually easy to put them back on when they fall off. Your elastics play a huge role in keeping the wires in place. You should let us know as soon as you realize it’s broken.

How you should handle a broken ligature:

If a ligature falls off, don’t panic. Use a pair of tweezers to reattach it. If it snaps entirely, get in touch with us. This way, we can fix it before others break as well. Until you can see us, cover any sharp areas with dental wax to prevent your soft tissues from being irritated.

Soft Tissue Cuts

Is a cut lip, cheek, or tongue an emergency?

If you got hit in the face, your braces could cut your soft tissues. These cuts may bleed, but they aren’t usually a dental emergency. For bigger cuts, we can stitch them closed if needed. If the bleeding hasn’t stopped after 10 minutes of pressure, should go to your local emergency room for help.

How you should handle a cut lip, cheek, or tongue:

Gently clean the area with a wet washcloth or by rinsing your mouth. Apply pressure to stop the bleeding and use an over-the-counter pain reliever and cold compress to manage your discomfort.

Something Stuck Between the Teeth  

Is Having Something Stuck Between the Teeth an Emergency? Not necessarily. That said, you’re more than welcome to give our Bend orthodontic office a call if you’re having trouble removing something that’s stuck between your teeth. In fact, we recommend doing that instead of reaching for something sharp, like tweezers or a toothpick.

How You Should Handle Something Stuck Between the Teeth The first step we recommend taking is dissolving some salt in warm water and rinsing with the solution (this should help loosen the debris that’s stuck). Then, use an interproximal toothbrush or floss to gently clean the area. If that doesn’t work, don’t hesitate to give us a call to schedule an appointment.

Broken/Lost Aligner or Retainer  

Is a Broken/Lost Aligner or Retainer an Emergency? Although this may not seem like an emergency, it is. After all a broken/lost aligner or retainer can lead to your teeth drifting out of alignment, wasting the time and money you’ve invested in orthodontic treatment. So, don’t wait – call us ASAP so we can begin the process of having yours repaired or replaced.

How You Should Handle a Broken or Lost Aligner/Retainer We recommend calling us so we can learn more about your situation, like how severe the damage is. From there, we can walk you through what to do – whether it’s moving onto the next set of aligners in the series or continuing to wear your retainer with the utmost care until we can repair it.

Tip: Put your retainer or aligner in their designated case when you aren’t wearing them instead of wrapping them in a napkin or leaving them out on the counter!

Loose Teeth  

Are Loose Teeth an Emergency? A loose tooth usually requires an immediate visit to your dentist’s office. However, this is expected from time to time during orthodontic treatment. In fact, it’s a sign that it’s working! That said, you shouldn’t hesitate to contact us if your tooth feels like it’s on the brink of falling out or you’re experiencing other abnormal symptoms, like pain when biting down.

How You Should Handle Loose Teeth As we mentioned above, you should call us right away if your tooth feels like it’s about to fall out. If it’s just slightly loose, on the other hand, then stick to extremely soft foods, like plain yogurt, vegetable soup, and oatmeal. If your teeth still feel loose after a few days or you notice any unusual symptoms surface, like considerable sensitivity, don’t hesitate to reach out.