Straighten Your Teeth Without Anyone Knowing
Do you want to straighten your teeth, but you’re not a fan of metal braces? If you’re looking to straighten your teeth without anyone knowing, read on. We’ve got the solution for you.
More and more people choose Invisalign® over traditional metal braces each year. It’s the quicker and easier route to straight, healthy teeth and a smile you love. Dr. Nataly Vilderman at Nataly Vilderman DDS in San Francisco, California, offers these tips for new Invisalign wearers.
While you wait for your teeth to move into their new position, it’s important to take care of your clear aligner trays to avoid damage or discoloration. Taking care of your trays also helps you reduce the risk of tooth decay because you’re less likely to get small pieces of food trapped on your teeth under the trays. That said, here are four easy tips to help you take care of your Invisalign trays every day.
For the duration of your Invisalign treatment, it’s helpful to consider them an actual part of your mouth. You wouldn’t go a day without cleaning your teeth, so don’t go a day without cleaning your trays, either. They’re essentially acting as an outer layer on your teeth, so they’re subject to the same germs and buildup during your treatment.
Use a soft toothbrush to gently brush the inside and outside of your trays, but don’t use an abrasive toothpaste. A child’s toothbrush may make it easier to brush inside the trays. When you clean them, use a circular motion so the toothbrush reaches all the nooks and crannies. Use a gentle, non-abrasive toothpaste to best protect your aligners.
To avoid food particle buildup in your aligners, take them out whenever you eat — yes, even if you’re just eating a small snack! Eating with your aligners in is the easiest way to dirty them up or ruin them. Keep your aligner case with you and put them away while you enjoy your meal.
If you can, rinse your mouth and your aligners before putting the trays back in. This ensures you avoid getting small food particles trapped inside.
Invisalign makes a special cleaning solution to deeply soak and clean your aligner trays. Ideally, you’d soak your aligners for 15 minutes once a day, but that’s not always feasible. Since you have to take them out while you brush, just pop them in the cleaning solutions and let them sit and self-clean. This tactic reduces the amount of plaque buildup on your aligner trays.
Coffee, tea, soda, and other dark-colored beverages can easily stain your teeth — and they can stain your invisible aligners, too. Try to avoid drinking these beverages while wearing your aligners. If you can’t go a day without your cup of Joe, try to drink it in a setting where you can easily take your aligners out and slip them back on when you’re done.
Want more Invisalign tips or to get started on the path to straighter teeth? Get in touch with Dr. Vilderman to schedule a consultation. Book your appointment by calling our San Francisco clinic at 415-665-7800, or request your appointment online.
