Scraping Archwire

[amy]

I've had my braces on a little under three weeks and much of the soreness from the brackets rubbing against my mouth has eased. I have stopped wearing wax most days except on my two top molar brackets where my archwire connects. The wire is very sharp and cuts my cheek, even catching and "hooking" my cheek when I talk.

Wearing the wax constantly can irritate my gums so I tired removing it yesterday but woke up this morning with sores and cheeks so sore I could barely eat for the replaced wax rubbing against it.

I called my ortho's emergency line for advice and they told me to cut the wire with clippers. The only thing is that I can't seem to. There is barely any wire sticking out and I can't maneuver clippers into position anyway.

Is there a way to file the ends so they aren't so sharp? I can call the ortho and try to make an appt but after moving this past week they are about 30 minutes out of my way and likely wont be accepting patients until Tuesday.

So do I need to have the ortho take care of this or is this something I can fix myself?

Any advice is appreciated!

[Snowglobe32]

Have you tried taking the handle of a spoon or fork and trying to bend/push the wire in the opposite direction?

Do you have another ortho closer by that you can call, explain the situation and see if you can get in and pay for them to clip the wire?