Top Tips for Caring for your Invisalign
Jan 15, 2024
![Top Tips for Caring for your Invisalign Top Tips for Caring for your Invisalign](/application/files/4417/1466/5876/caring-for-braces.png)
Top Tips for Caring for your Invisalign
A little TLC always makes a difference and your Invisalign aligners are no exception. Love and care for them properly and they’ll return the favour; but ignore them and they might just come back to bite you! Here’s our Queensway Top Ten Tips for caring for your Invisalign well.
1. Take them out for consuming anything other than water. We know it sounds like a pain but honestly, you’ll thank us. They discolour fast (rather ruining their invisible look) and are easily broken if you chomp awkwardly on the wrong thing.
2. Avoid highly coloured foods like coffee, red wine and tomatoes as much as possible (yes, EVEN THOUGH you are taking your aligners out to eat and drink). Residue from food and drinks can linger on your teeth and still cause discolouration when you pop your aligners back in. If you do eat things like that (let’s face it we all need a pizza and a macchiato every now and then), just then be sure to give your mouth a good rinse or clean your teeth before replacing your aligners.
3. Use lukewarm water when rinsing or cleaning your aligners. Water that is too hot or too cold could crack or otherwise damage them. Also, putting freezing cold aligners back onto your teeth can be quite uncomfortable!
4. When it comes to cleaning, use a soft-bristled toothbrush to give them a gentle scrub under running water, both on the inside and the outside. Nice.
5. Never use toothpaste to clean your aligners as it’s too abrasive and may scratch the surface of those beautiful teeth-straightening babies. A little antibacterial soap is a good call – though do give them a thorough rinse if you want to avoid a soapy aftertaste.
6. Don’t forget, after all that cleaning of your aligners, to brush and floss your teeth, too. They are, of course, the main stars of the show here, and any food residue left on your teeth can get onto your aligners as well.
7. Make like Violet Beauregarde and get a chewing habit. We’re not talking bubble gum here though. Invisalign Chewies are pieces of pliable plastic that are designed especially to help create a really snug fit between aligner and teeth. Just pop one in, bite down and chew for about 10 minutes each day, chewing most on any areas where you notice there are gaps. Just don’t swallow. Or try to stick it to the bottom of the desk during maths…
8. Always store your aligners in their proper case. Mainly because it stops them getting lost or damaged but also, leaving your aligners lying around is totally disgusting. Just put them in the case, you filthy animal!
9. About once a week, especially if you spot tartar build-up, give your aligners a spa treatment and soak them in a denture or aligner cleaner. For a natural spa clean, try one part distilled white vinegar to three parts water. Because they’re worth it.
10. And finally, even if you do everything you can to keep your aligners looking lovely, sometimes ‘stuff’ just happens. So always keep your last set of aligners just in case you lose the current set and need interim aligners until the new set arrives.
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