Please call at least 2 business days before your appointment if you are unable to keep your appointment. This allows us time to schedule other patients who are waiting to be seen.
If you are running late for an appointment, please call us to let us know. When you arrive late, you may be asked to wait in the reception room briefly as we try to accomodate the schedule change. This will allow us to maintain our goal of staying on schedule. If you can’t be accomodated, your appointment may need to be rescheduled to another day.
We will try to accommodate your schedule as best as possible, however, you should expect there will be times where you will need to be seen during school hours.
If you are experiencing mild to moderate discomfort or a broken bracket or appliance, call the office and we will assess the problem and determine if you need to be seen right away or whether we can assist in making you more comfortable until we can find a suitable spot on the schedule to see you. Many times a broken bracket or appliance that is not causing discomfort will not affect treatment or treatment times.
Please call the office for the after hours number. We will assess the situation to determine whether we can assist you with comfort measures until we can find you a suitable appointment time. We may talk you through a problem over the phone to hold you over until you can be seen during business hours or we may make arrangements to see you after hours if need be.
Common orthodontic problems may include a poking wire, a loose bracket or band, a loose appliance, or a lost spacer. Here are some tips for certain orthodontic problems.
Always call our office to let us know. We may need to adjust the amount of time at your next visit to repair it or bring you in sooner to repair it. If a bracket or band is loose but still on the wire, leave it in place. If it is moving and causing discomfort, cover it with wax. Be sure to first dry the area you are covering with wax.
Cover the poking wire with dental wax. Again, be sure to dry the surface first, then apply the wax. We provide wax to all our patients, but if you run out and need it, you can buy it at most drug stores.
Using a pair of tweezers or needle-nosed pliers (washed and sterilized with alcohol), try to put your wire back into place. It is okay to use a piece of floss to tie the wire into place: tie the floss around the bracket in place of the missing colored o-ring. If you cannot put the wire into a comfortable position, and covering the end with wax doesn’t help, as a last resort use a small fingernail clipper (washed and sterilized with alcohol) to clip the wire behind the last tooth to which the wire is securely fastened. If the end of the wire is still sharp place wax on it.
