Why does one of my son's braces keep coming loose? the brace, or metal piece on our son's left eye tooth keeps popping off or coming loose. he says he's not eating anything he's not supposed to be, and i believe him. is the orthodontist not doing somethin

Your : Your sons brace is pooping off the tooth because of pressure. Braces are bonded directly onto the enamel surface. This bond is very strong to withstand the forces of tooth movement with wires and elastics. If your son grinds his teeth, eats hard crunchy food, wears an ill fitting mouthguard, or bites down too hard, the brace will break away from the tooth before the tooth breaks. This pressure is the reason the bracket keeps falling off. If the orthodontist was doing something wrong all the braces would start debonding not just the same one. Rarely there is a problem with the tooth, however, if the tooth is contaminated with saliva or old bonding glue it could definately effect the strength of the brace. Discuss your consern directly with his orthodontist, you might find that he has a "super glue" for that one eye tooth. Good luck.

If : If there is a repeated pattern of the same bracket coming off, you might want to find out if there is ( other than hard crunchy foods) a nail biting habit present. Alot of times, it is the mysterious reason for braces coming off. Chewing on pens or hard objects, chewing on a sports guard, picking at the braces are all causes for the braces to break loose off the teeth. Rarely, if there is an existing bonding ( or filling) on the tooth in question, the bracket bond is not as strong. My suggestion is to sit down with your son and orthodontist and have a discussion about what maybe causing the frequent broken braces.

If : If braces keep coming lose, another reason could also be the inertfierence with the opposing arch and at times it can be overlooked. Please check with your treating dentist. And........Good luck!

Possibly occlusion: If this is a lower tooth that keeps losing its bracket, the bite should be checked by your son's orthodontist to be sure that your son is not biting the bracket off. Repeated attempts to reattach the bracket on the same day diminishes the chances that it will stay, so that is also a possibility.

Enamel character: The direction of the microscopic enamel rods can be in an erroneous direction preventing a good microscopic mechanical bond. When this happens we cement a metal band on the tooth with the bracket attached to it. It could also be due to the opposing tooth biting against making the bond come loose.

Depends: When you say "eye tooth" one usually refers to the upper canine tooth. If there is an underbite, it could be a bite interference, after 2 incidents your doctor would know and create a temporary bite"opener". It could be a pen/pencil biting habit: stop. It could rarely be the quality of enamel. Also, it is a tooth the comes in later and may be close to the gum and moisture contaminates.

Many reasons: There are numerous reasons that a brace may be broken off the tooth; the majority have to do with patient compliance (chewing on hard things like pens or picking at the braces). There are other possibilities that have to do with the position of the tooth, is it erupted fully, etc. Talk with the orthodontist to explore the possibilities to resolve them.

Pressure or enamel: Something may be putting untoward pressure on the bracket. Hard, sticky, chewy foods, habits--like chewing on pencils, or an ill-fitting mouthguard, playing contact sports without wearing a mouth guard, are common culprits. Another cause could be unusual composition of the enamel of that tooth. Have your orthodontic specialist review the situation.