Traveling and wire started poking - San Diego, then Tulsa

[mollycat]

This is the third time I've had the end of a wire start sticking out of my back bracket. I guess it's a good sign that my teeth are moving, but the end of the wire is slowly poking my cheek more & more. I brought along wax, so that'll help in the short run, but I'm on the road for another week, and this is going to get old.

Has anyone had emergency orthodontic work away from home? How does that work? What I need will only take them 2 minutes, so I'm wondering if someone would do it for a low cost. Or, wouldn't they want to touch it for liability reasons??

If going to another ortho for this, does anyone have recommendations in San Diego or Tulsa, OK?

Thanks!
Molly

[Nozzelnut]

Wax. Lots of wax. I really like the silicone ear plug wax better than the dental wax.

If there was a serious emergency; cut the wire as close to the next bracket as you can and hope for the best until you get back to your regular ortho. That's my plan. Broken off brackets, broken wires and that sort of thing can be helped by that. A good pair of wire cutters can provide a lot of relief when travelling; without additional expense.

If that didn't work I'd do a google search for orthos in that area and hope they did pro bono work for out of town clients.

[ljms]

I've never had to deal with this but, when I got my braces, my ortho's advice for this situation was to cut the wire with nail clippers. Although, for the life of me, I can't figure out how I would get nail clippers lined up at the back of my jaw.

He also said to try pushing the wire away from the cheek with the eraser end of a pencil.

[agrace90]

I'm in San Diego and go to Dr Asbury at Braces San Diego. He's amazing! He has a La Mesa (East SD) office and a coastal office. Call ahead if you decide to go because they're only open half the week at each place. Good luck!

[TheKT]

I would call an Ortho office nearby and explain the situation. I would thing they would do it for free with a release from you.

[sirwired]

When I was traveling and had a bracket pop, I asked around and got referred to a local ortho by one of the "locals" that was working in the same office I was. He clipped the wire for free and stuck the bracket in a little envelope for me to take home. No ortho is going to glue a bracket back on for a non-patient, but you should be able to find somebody to clip that wire for cheap or free.

Also, you might want to consider buying a pair of ortho wire clippers; I got mine on Amazon for a few bucks. (I think it was called a "Braces Emergency Kit.)

[kathydell]

I had great luck with nail clippers when I was away. If it's too short, fine wire cutters work too (yes, I have gotten them out of the basement tool box and sterilized them on a weekend once).

[mollycat]

Thanks for the suggestions. I briefly considered the nail clippers, but couldn't reach the very back of my molars with them. It turns out, clipping the wire was not the right solution: it had shifted to the right, so that it was sticking out the back on the right and had slipped out of the back bracket on the left. I found a nearby dentist who was able to thread the wire back into the bracket and push it back into place. I was able to push it back myself, but probably couldn't have gotten it in the bracket. But, if it starts moving again, hopefully I can push it back before it slips completely out of the other bracket.

Although she was listed as an orthodontist, it was clear that she didn't have experience with self-ligating brackets. (I think she might just do invisalign.) If anyone reads this thread looking for recommendations, I'd suggest you ask if they use the type of braces you have. But, she did find a solution and it was around the block from my hotel. She charged $25.

Now I'm heading out, without any wax in my mouth
thanks everyone,
Molly

[Norrie]

Sorry that I'm late to the game! I'm in Tulsa and recommend Emerson Orthodontics. They've been wonderful to us.