One of my ties came off, should I be worried?

[catteethidk]

I've had braces for close to a year and a half now, with no issues, but today when I was flossing my teeth one of the coloured ties just sorta snapped off a bracket - I guess it had been wearing out or something? It's one of the teeth that has an elastic on it. The bracket is still there but I don't know if this is going to cause any future problems. Because I'm a university student I live in a city five hours from my hometown where my orthodontist is and I won't get to see her until I visit home a whole week from now. Should I be concerned, is this going to cause any issues, or is it not a huge deal? And just what purpose DO the coloured ties serve anyway?

[assertives]

The colored ties ligate (tie) the wire into the bracket slots. The brackets all have some degree of torque/movement/angulation "pre-programmed" into them which is then activated by the different wires that your ortho chooses for each stage of your treatment. The wires and the brackets then serve to move each tooth according to what your ortho has "prescribed".

But with all that being said, at the 1.5 year mark, there's much movement left to be made anymore, at least for my case, so I guess losing just one ligature shouldn't be an issue unless the bracket has also popped off since you need that bracket to wear your elastics. You can give your ortho's office a call and see what they advise you.