See your smile in a whole new way
CONGRATULATIONS on starting your Invisalign journey to a spectacular smile! Orthodontic treatment can be quite a lifestyle change. Fortunately, most Invisalign Ann Arbor patients, regardless of their age, are quite adaptive to such a change.
We are here to help you make your adjustment as easy as possible.
Invisalign & Discomfort
Similar to braces, you may experience some soreness and your teeth may feel tender when biting during the first couple of days when you switch to a new set of Invisalign aligners. The discomfort right after initial aligner delivery could last for as long as 7-10 days. To help ease the discomfort, you can take over-the-counter pain medicines (preferably Tylenol, if you have taken these medicines before. If you can't take Tylenol, it's ok to take Ibuprofen) and rinse your mouth with warm salt water. The key to overcoming the initial discomfort is excellent compliance. Once you wear the new aligners long enough, you will most likely feel better. If you still experience prolonged discomfort after the first 7-10 days with your Invisalign aligners, please let us know!
Diet Considerations For Invisalign Patients
One of the biggest perks of Invisalign is that it straightens your teeth without restricting your diet. Unlike braces, with removable aligners, you can eat pretty much anything. Just be sure to take your aligners out before you eat, and clean your teeth thoroughly before putting your aligner back in. Because Invisalign must be worn 22 hours a day to achieve best result, you will want to be mindful about the number of breaks you take for your meals.
What About Drinks While I Am Wearing My Invisalign Aligners?
Whether with braces or aligners, water and milk are your best choice of drinks. Beverages like coffee, tea (and red wine for our adult patients) can stain teeth. Avoid sugar containing and carbonated drinks, such as soda, sport/energy drinks, flavored bubbly water, juice etc. These drinks contain acids and/or sugar that dissolve tooth enamel, and can lead to “white spots” and cavities! While you can drink room temperature water (i.e. not too cold nor too hot) with your aligner in, be sure to remove your Invisalign aligners when drinking everything else. Both for braces and aligners, be sure to brush right away after drinking. If brushing is not possible, rinse thoroughly with water.
Tips on Wearing Aligners
To put your aligners on, you should seat the aligners with your front middle teeth first, then press to seat the aligners from front to the back. DON’T bite down on unseated aligners, as this will deform the aligners.
To remove the aligners, do the opposite, i.e. try to dislodge the aligner from the back on the tongue side first, then gently remove the aligner off the teeth from the back to the front/middle. You can use the aligner remover hook that we provide you at the initial bonding appointment to help dislodge the aligner from the back on the tongue side. Try NOT to remove your aligners from the cheek/lip side, as it could detach the attachments that were bonded to the teeth!
When you first switch to a new set of aligners, to help fully seat the aligners and alleviate the discomfort, with your aligners on, chew on the chewies for at least first 2-3 days, 2-3 times/day, 10 min each time. Chewies are provided to our aligner patient at their bonding appointment. If you need more chewies before your next appointment with us, they can be purchased in many places such as here.
Aligners need to be worn 22 hours per day! If you are told to wear rubber bands as well, wear the rubber bands whenever you wear your aligners (i.e. 22 hours/day) and change the rubber bands ~3-4X/day.
When you are ready to change to the next aligner set, your aligners should have NO visible gap seen between the edge of the teeth and the aligner itself (green arrows below). If a gap exists (red arrow below), aligner chewies should be used faithfully on all teeth especially the one where a gap exist until the aligner fits properly everywhere. DO NOT TRANSITION TO YOUR NEXT ALIGNER UNTIL ALL GAPS BETWEEN THE TEETH AND THE ALIGNER ARE RESOLVED.
Daily Habits For Maintaining Good Oral Hygiene With Invisalign
Your Invisalign clear aligners will fit right into your active lifestyle if you keep just a few things in mind:
Keeping your teeth clean is of paramount importance during your orthodontic treatment. Don’t let bad oral hygiene compromise your ultimate beautiful smile! Check out the following video to learn how to take care of your teeth and aligners during treatment.
Brush and floss after eating meals and snacks or drinking anything other than water. This step is an essential part of using Invisalign invisible braces, and you should plan on brushing much more often than you might have before. As your clear aligners work to straighten teeth, they must be very tight-fitting.
Food particles trapped between teeth and inside the aligner won’t be washed out by normal saliva and tongue movements, and can therefore affect the fit of your aligners. Brushing and flossing, or at least rinsing your mouth with water, will help make the treatment more effective.
Cleaning your aligners is another important part of your oral hygiene routine. If you don’t clean your Invisalign braces in the right manner, you can end up with stains and discoloration on the aligners. Additionally, the buildup of dental plaque and bacteria can cause dental issues and foul odor.
The best time to clean your aligners is when you wake up. Start the daily ritual of brushing your aligners when you are brushing your teeth. We also recommend that you rinse your trays after every meal, to prevent the buildup of bacteria on your aligner trays.
CARE INSTRUCTIONS FOR INVISALIGN ALIGNERS:
Emergency Care For Invisalign Patients
True orthodontic emergencies are EXTREMELY RARE for our aligner patients. If you notice attachments or rubber band hook off, just give our office a call at 734-818-8108 during our normal business hours, describe what the problem is, and we will be gladly schedule you for a help appointment to get that taken care of!
Have questions?
Check out our FAQ section or contact our team today.