How Will My Day-to-Day Change with Invisalign?
Most parents and teens know that Invisalign is a great way to straighten teeth that is vastly less obvious than wearing traditional braces, and since the trays are removable, there’s no need to make dietary changes. However, your daily routine will change slightly while you are undergoing your teeth straightening treatment.
Your Daily Life with Invisalign
When you receive your Invisalign aligners, you’ll need to wear them between 20 and 22 hours a day. This means you should really only remove them when you are eating or drinking something that isn’t water. Because of this, you’ll need to limit your snack intake between meals and the number of drinks you consume, except water. As a result, a lot of Invisalign wearers consume fewer sodas, energy drinks, and fruit juices. They also tend to skip snacking between meals. As a result, some Invisalign wearers notice that they lose a few pounds during the course of treatment. Some even refer to it as the Invisalign diet. The good news is that you won’t have to remove foods from your diet or chew your food any differently.
Eating and Drinking
Before a meal and before drinking anything that isn’t water, you’ll need to remove your Invisalign aligners and store them in their case. This is because you don’t want to accidentally damage or stain your clear aligners while eating or drinking. Once you finish eating or drinking, you’ll want to brush and floss your teeth thoroughly if possible. If you put your aligners in directly after eating or drinking without brushing and flossing, you’ll end up bathing your teeth in food particles and bacteria, which can lead to tooth decay and cavities.
For most clear appliance wearers, this means brushing and flossing at least five times a day, including in the morning, evening, after breakfast, lunch, and dinner. If you consider three meals and the time it takes to brush and floss your teeth, you’ll quickly realize that this can add up to at least two hours of non-wear time, including the time it takes to eat. For this reason, many Invisalign wearers tend to eat more quickly so that they can resume wearing their clear aligners for at least 20 hours a day.
Cleaning Your Clear Aligners
In addition to keeping your teeth clean, you’ll have to keep your aligners clean in order to prevent odors and stains from building up on the aligners. To keep your aligners clean, you will need to lightly brush them with your toothpaste and a toothbrush in the evening and rinse them thoroughly. To ensure they stay clear, clean, and odor-free, you may also want to invest in the Invisalign Cleaning System. This system contains special cleaning crystals and takes about 15 minutes per cleaning.
Job Interviews and Social Gatherings
In some instances, you may not want to wear your clear aligners despite the fact that they are minimally noticeable. Common scenarios include important social gatherings, meetings, or job interviews where you wouldn’t necessarily want the attendees or interviewers to notice that you are straightening your teeth. During these times, you can remove your aligners, brush them with toothpaste and a toothbrush and store them in your aligner case. After the event, you’ll want to immediately put your aligners back in your mouth so that you can resume straightening your teeth.
Invisalign with our Orthodontist in Melbourne, FL
Our orthodontist in Melbourne, FL offers Invisalign and Invisalign Teen. Both of these options invisibly straighten teeth while causing minimal disruption to your daily life. The difference is that Invisalign Teen contains blue wear indicators that can help ensure your teen is wearing his or her aligners for the appropriate amount of time each day.
To learn more about Invisalign and to schedule a consultation, give Dr. Reddick a call at 321-254-5232.