Root Canals and Fillings While In Braces

Patients who are undergoing orthodontic treatment are at higher risk for cavities and infections. The most important thing to consider is prevention, but sometimes even with the best preventative measures and practices applied a cavity can rear its ugly head or a tooth can become sensitive due to infection. In these cases emergency treatment needs to be sought.

“Will They Need To Come Off?”

The first question that everyone asks themselves is how exactly this will affect their orthodontic treatment. After all, no one wants to be stuck in braces for longer than they need to be, and if the braces need to be taken off then that is a serious delay in the treatment time. This is something everyone certainly wishes to avoid but let’s face it, if it’s either slightly elongated treatment or the tooth rotting out of your skull, which one do you choose? Thought so.

The Good News

The good news is that often braces do not need to come off at all. Doctors have x-rays, after all, and can locate the area of the tooth that is affected and work around the brackets. If the cavity is on the surface of the tooth they can use their instruments around the brackets and wires and clean and fill the hole up. If the tooth needs a root canal treatment, often enough it can be done without removing the brackets.

The Bad News

The bad news is twofold. Sometimes braces do need to come off. This means that a part or all of an arch may need to be removed. One of the situations in which this can happen is if the cavity is located on the side of the tooth with the bracket, as then the bracket will be in the way. Also, if parts of the tooth are too damaged to save, and with a root canal treatment a portion of the tooth will be removed, then the bracket needs to come off of the tooth in question.

All in all, the answer to whether your braces will need to come off is: “maybe”.  

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