Just Braces

When a child has braces, people (parents, doctors) tend to believe that anything that goes wrong in and around the mouth is being caused by the braces. This could not be farther from the truth. We have had many instances over the years when a Mom called our office because the child was having a problem that was assumed to be an orthodontic problem. Maybe it is because we are accessible. Maybe it is because we are familiar. But we are not equipped to handle such things. "What such things?", you may be asking yourself. Two specific instances come to mind. What is interesting about the first example is that the child's pediatrician sent them over. The first one had a lesion in their mouth that the pediatrician told the Mom was being caused by the braces. Our Doctor took one look at it and saw that it was a Herpes infection. Way to go Pediatrician! We put the kid on medication and sent the family back to the pediatrician. On another occasion, a Mom had brought her child to our office. The entire side of his face was swollen and he had missed the entire week of school with a fever. I am no Doctor but what about this says "braces"? Braces do not cause this kind of reaction. We sent the kid to the pediatrician to rule out mumps. Turns out he had a raging viral infection that had settled in his face causing cellulitis.

So basically, anything that is in or around the mouth that is causing a fever, swelling or ulcerations, see the pediatrician first.  Sometimes a wire poking will cause an irritation in the cheek or gum--if there is no evidence of a wire poking, see the pediatrician first.

There are several other problems that we see that are really dental, not orthodontic. Some of these things include tooth darkening, a chip to a tooth or abscesses. We can't do anything about this stuff. It is also critically important to visit your dentist every 6 months for an examination and cleaning. In our office, we do not clean your teeth (picking out food does not count) nor do we check for cavities. We will see a cavity if it is fairly obvious and let you know it is there but we do not have the means to fix it. We don't do extractions or root canals. Just braces.

I am going to sign off now because I have to go to a business luncheon with dental students. Those kids are always entertaining. I really don't like that I can call them kids. Oh well.