Clear Braces Direct; Invisalign survival tips

Are you new to using Invisalign aligners and in need of a bit of guidance on how to look after them?

At Clear Braces Direct London, our team knows all there is to know about invisible aligners and can offer you advice and survival tips for those first few weeks of use. Great!

Here, our team at Clear Braces Direct London discusses how to look after your aligners to maximise the realignment process and keep your teeth healthy, so enjoy!

Keep them clean

A key piece of advice that our team at Clear Braces Direct London will typically provide to those who are beginning the process of using Invisalign is to keep them clean.

This will not only help with the ‘invisible’ aspect of the aligner but also keep your teeth and gums healthy as you won’t be pushing food debris against them.

To keep your aligners clean, simply rinse them under a cold tap; do not use hot water to clean them, and refrain from using mouthwashes as this can stain the plastic.

Time yourself

These aligners are removable, and as such, you would have to wear them for around 22 hours a day.

The best way to stick to this limit (as obvious as it sounds) is to time yourself. If you leave the aligners out of your mouth for more than 2 hours a day, you can delay the process and even cause your teeth to revert to their former positions.

Take pain relief

You may have heard that Invisalign is a pain-free way to straighten your teeth.

Whilst we are aware that it uses gentle pushing motions as opposed to pulling teeth, it can still cause some discomfort. This is usually the most evident when you have just switched between aligners and have to adjust.

To mitigate these sensations, it may be wise to invest in some over-the-counter pain relievers, such as ibuprofen or paracetamol. If you experience too much discomfort at any time, please talk to our team.

Use the app!

It seems that nowadays there is an app for everything, and the same can be said for realigning your teeth!

When you use these aligners, you will be given access to an associated app, which will allow you to send our team selfies of your smile so that we can assess how the aligners are working.

Should we feel that you need to come in to have an appointment based on any of the photos that you send, we will inform you and book you in.

Keep appointments

It goes without saying that these aligners are nifty and lifestyle friendly. However, that does not mean that you won’t need to see our team; we estimate that when you use Invisalign, you will require an appointment once every 6-8 weeks, just so we can check on how the process is going.

So, to help us maximise the effectiveness of the aligners and keep an eye out for problems, try to attend all the appointments made for you.