Please leave your wires alone while at home, as will not over-correct your teeth. They will stop once your teeth are in the correct position.
Broken or protruding wire
If a wire is irritating you, please cover it in a small amount of orthodontic wax until we can check it out.
However, if your wire comes out or shifts to one side this can be fixed by gently pushing on it with your fingernail (after washing your hands) or the head of your toothbrush to shift it back into the correct spot.
If you feel the wire is too long this can be easily fixed by placing orthodontic wax over the end to conceal the wire. However, if the wire is too long or broken you can take a pair of disinfected or new nail clippers to carefully clip the protruding part of the wire off; but be careful not to clip the bracket off.
Sharp ligature tie:
A ligature tie is the small piece of wire that is sometimes used to tie in the archwire to the braces. If this tie sticks out and is impacting your lip, you can either conceal it with orthodontic wax or use the back of your toothbrush to push the wire towards your tooth; this should help conceal it to avoid further damage.
Please do not confuse a ligature tie with a bracket hook. These hooks are used to connect rubber bands to the bracket and pushing on these hooks will break them as they do not bend. Simply place orthodontic wax over the bracket for relief.
For more information, please contact South East Orthodontics by clicking here or calling us on (03) 9796 2794.