Braces - what the hell has just happened?

[HEC2746]

DD got upper fixed braces four days ago. She’s been good and hasn’t eaten anything hard - to be fair, at this point she still can’t eat much more than soup anyway!

So today she said she thought one of the brackets had come loose and she was worried it had taken some tooth with it, and having looked, it bloody has! The brackets and wires are fine, it’s just that the whole front of her tooth has sheered off and can flip and down like a barn door.

Is this normal? Does she have extraordinarily weak teeth or has the dentist done something wrong?

Are you sure it's tooth and not just the cement they use to secure the bracket? And no, it's not normal!

I’m no expert so maybe it is the cement, would that be the size of a whole tooth?

DD has terrible enamel (genetic, not bad diet) and I’m really worried the dentist hasn’t taken that into account

That isn't at all normal (hopefully it is just the cement). Is she in pain? It does tend to hurt at the outset but if she's still unable to chew anything at all four days in and if she now has damage I'd be worried that they are too tight. Id be looking for an emergency dentist I think

I'm sorry OP but I've just seen your update. The cement wouldn't be the size of the whole tooth, it's normally just on the bracket piece in my experience

She’s not in pain so we’ll call first thing on Monday morning. She can eat a bit, just still feels sore to chew.

Do you have a photo of this? It would be very unusual ( I am not a dentist but most of my family have had braces) It would be more usual that the brace and cement were detached.
Either way an emergency trip to orthodontist, dentist or even dental hospital sounds in order.

I don't think I would leave it till Monday actually (and I'm generally a wait and see person) because you're risking damage to all her teeth is it's been done incorrectly

The white bit between the two dark braces is what she can flip up

Obviously it’s now going to take ages to load that picture!

Not a very clear picture but looks like cement to cement bracket on.

The problem with any enamel with a defect is that it is very difficult to bond to it as the enamel doesn’t act as you would expect it to.

It’s nothing to worry about.

It’s surprisingly hard to take a photo inside someone’s mouth 😅 It’s the length of the entire tooth that flips and DD says it feels smaller inside when she gets touches it. Have registered with the NHS dental nurse call back service which I didn’t even realise existed, so they’ll at least be certain how large the cement is.

I am more worried because she has such weak enamel she’s under the care of the dental hospital so I’m concerned the local dentist wasn’t entirely aware and this might be damage.

This ☝️

You need this seen to urgently. You’ll place more damage on the braces themselves and god only knows what damage to her teeth, particular if she is consuming any food (which she will want and need to do, obviously).

This, mine broke and turned the wrong way out and had a layer of white cement on it.

My son had rings cemented on for braces and a few days after one of the rings came off with what I thought was part of his tooth but it turned out to be cement. It's likely this in your DDs case too but I would definitely get it checked asap just in case.

My ds had a band underneath his bracket that came loose and was flapping about. We thought the brace was broken at first but it was just a band that we didn't know was there. It looked a bit like your photo but you would be able to feel the difference between a band and a bit of tooth.

The dental nurse will advise you. I hope it isn't too much of a problem.

The brackets have to be cemented on , there’s no way you can use a weaker cement as the forces used in braces are so much the brackets would come off straight away.

In people with very weak enamel what tends to happen is the cement will just not stick to the enamel .

If something has happened it is not something the orthodontist could have avoided , however I think it is most likely it is cement that has debonded.

Honestly one minute I think it’s cement and the next I think it is the tooth! Still, hopefully the nurse will call at some point and be able to advise what it might be and we can see someone maybe tomorrow.