Invisalign Aftercare Tips after Installation

Certain medical advancements were developed over the years. Several dental treatment alternatives were innovated to give those who wanted to improve their teeth, a wider range of options. From the traditional dental braces, invisalign treatment was made and has become a better option for some as it helps straighten the teeth quicker, more comfortably, and more discreetly. 

Invisalign is an alternative to braces, holding the same purpose of aligning and straightening your teeth in conventional ways. While dental braces involve attaching brackets to the teeth themselves then use wires to tighten them, Invisalign are clear and removable aligners, which hold your teeth in place while gradually straightening them. The fact that these aligners are clear, an advantage of it is that no one would be able to tell that you are wearing them. And since this is the case, in order to maintain its clarity, you have to do proper cleaning. They can become discolored and can be covered with bacteria that can lead to bad odors, poor dental health, and an all-around bad Invisalign experience. Thus, you must always be responsible and maintain good dental health practices all the time.

Similar to your natural set of teeth, you must also be mindful of what you eat and drink all the time as it may cause the discoloration of the aligners as well. You have to take care of your Invisalign as much as you take good care of your teeth, so you can enjoy the results that it brings. Of course, if you wear them regularly.

Cleaning

Keeping your Invisalign aligners clean is just the same as how you take proper care of your teeth. Every morning when you wake up, before wearing the aligners again, you should clean the trays with a soft toothbrush that will not lay scratches on them. This toothbrush must be different from the one you normally use. Then, you can use a small part of clear antibacterial soap, then finish it by rinsing them thoroughly with only warm, and not hot water. Since the material of the aligners is plastic, using hot water may distort them. You should avoid toothpastes as much as possible as well, since they can be too abrasive to be used as a cleaning agent of the trays. They might tend to make the plastic hazy.

Apart from these, you must also still be mindful of regularly brushing and flossing your teeth as well. Wearing the aligners back in on top of food particles might lead to the development of cavities, or other dental issues that may happen. Additionally, to help protect your teeth from cavities getting in contact with the teeth, brushing your teeth regularly will be of help as the aligners can prevent saliva that causes these cavities to stick. Brushing the Invisalign aligners is essential as it has the ability to remove the plaque, and eliminate odors as well. Though if they start to build up tartar, soaking them in white vinegar for a couple of hours might be effective. They can soften the tartar, so you can easily brush them and clean them off.

Soaking

If you are going to remove your aligners, when you are about to eat or drink colored drinks, for example, it is important to soak them in warm water, at least. Leaving them in the open air would be risky for bacteria to stick around. Once a day, while you have the trays removed at home, let them soak in a cleaning solution in order to keep them in optimal shape as well.

Invisalign also offers its own cleaning system called “cleaning crystals”, in which you can dissolve in water then soak your aligners in. These crystals contain cleansing agents including sodium sulfate. However, this type of cleaning system may be a bit expensive. There are other alternatives available in the market, those of which you can use for dental retainers as well. Before the whole soaking procedure ends, brush the aligners with your soft toothbrush, then rinse them before wearing them again.

Eating and Drinking

It is known that eating and drinking colored foods and beverages might cause not just your aligners, but your teeth as well, to become discolored, which might be visible when you smile. The only thing you are allowed to consume while wearing the aligner trays would be water. It is the only safe beverage you can drink to protect both your aligner and teeth. For anything else, you might have to remove the aligners before consuming them. And before putting them back in, you must brush your teeth to avoid the cavities sticking to your aligners. Brushing might even have the acids from the colored foods and drinks you consumed be avoided to be transferred to the aligners themselves.

Drinking colored beverages while wearing your Invisalign aligners, even with the use of straw, is not recommended. Though you might think that straws can avoid staining or warping, it will still not get rid of the negative effects of these drinks aside from water. Given this reason, this will not help you prevent the risk of damaging your aligners. When the beverage you took a sip from with the use of a straw mixes with the saliva, it creates contact with the aligners. If you think about it, straws will only minimize the risk but do not actually prevent them from being stained, discolored, and even warped.

Additionally, if you would not be able to soak them in water when you take them out, at least put them inside a case, to avoid too much exposure to air. And if you will be forgetting about your aligners by accidentally drinking a beverage that is not water, you can perform immediate measures such as rinsing both your mouth and the aligners, brush your teeth, then put your aligners immediately back on.

Key Takeaway

Properly taking care of your Invisalign aligners is the same as how you maintain your teeth regularly. They need cleaning and soaking to avoid particles to stick and stains to remain on your aligners, to ensure better results in the long run. You must also be aware and mindful of whatever you eat and drink as it becomes a factor on how long your aligners will last. You might not want an aligner replacement, so you must really protect them by properly maintaining them, giving you optimal results in a few months, or years.