Invisalign & Clear Aligner Care 101

Wearing Your Aligners

How Long Should you Wear your Aligners Each Day?

Aligners should be worn at least 22 hours each day. Trays only come out when you are eating or drinking anything other than water and when you are brushing your teeth.

How Long Should you Wear Each Set of Trays?

When you start treatment, you will receive a few sets of trays, typically trays 1-4. You will wear each tray for 14 days starting with tray 1. After 14 days, you will move to the next tray in the sequence (1,2,3, etc.).

At your regularly scheduled appointments, Dr. Moran will see how your are progressing with treatment. If you feel that the tray is easy to get in and out of your mouth prior to day 14, your orthodontist may recommend decreasing the amount of days you spend in each tray.

How to Put in Aligners:

You can start with either the upper or lower aligner first. To properly seat invisible aligners, place them firmly in your mouth with your fingers, working from front to back to ensure they are fitting snug against all teeth.

Next, gently bite up and down on your green “chewy”, moving from one side of your mouth to the other until the trays are fully seated in the mouth. Then, moving from one side of your mouth to the other, bite down again on your “chewie” making sure to apply moderate pressure to each tooth. This ensures the tray is fully activated.

How to Remove Aligners:

There are several ways to remove aligners and we recommend that each patient try a couple methods until they find one that works for them.

To remove the lower aligner, we recommend placing your thumb nail up against your lower canines (vampire teeth) right where the plastic meets the gums. Apply pressure up until the tray pops up. You can also try playing your thumbs further back on your tray towards your molars, applying pressure up until they come out.

To remove the upper aligner, place your fingernails on both the left and right side of the tray on either side of your mouth where the plastic meets the gums. Apply pressure pulling down until the tray pulls out.

If you are having difficulty removing your trays, please contact the office. We can show your tips and tricks at your appointment or provide you with a tool to help make removal easier.

How to Clean Aligners:

Since each set of aligners is only worn for a maximum of 14 days, the aligners typically do not get discolored from regular wear and care.

To ensure that they stay clear and odor free, we recommend brushing the aligners once a day with a soft toothbrush and dish liquid and rinsing the trays with cool water each time you put them in.

Do not place the trays in hot water, this may deform the trays. While some denture/retainer cleaning tablets can be used to clean the trays, make sure they do not have any coloring or they may stain the trays. We also do not recommend soaking them in mouthwash as the mouthwash may stain the trays.

How to Care for your Teeth:

During treatment in aligners it is imperative that you take extra special care of your teeth.

While in treatment, is extremely important to brush and floss after each meal prior to putting your aligners back on. Any residue left in the trays will remained trapped against your teeth and over time this can cause white spots, swollen gums, decay, and cavities.

We recommend maintaining a regular, 6 month cleaning schedule with your dentist during treatment. During your cleaning, your dentist may recommend specific toothpaste to prevent or address any concerns with the teeth or gums.

How to Tell if Your Teeth are “Tracking”

When in aligner treatment, your teeth follow a set progression of movements in the trays. “Tracking” simply means that the teeth are following this sequence and moving in the correct pattern. If teeth are not “tracking”, that means one or several teeth are not moving the way we expected they would and it is expecting that this may occur during treatment.

Properly tracking aligners should fit snugly against all teeth with a small, equal amount of plastic showing on each tooth. If a tooth is NOT tracking, there will be an increased amount of plastic on that one tooth when compared to others.

If a tooth is not tracking, do not move to another tray. Stay in your current tray, call your orthodontist, and get scheduled to come in for a refinement.

What is a “Refinement” or “New Stage” of Aligner Treatment?

Aligners work by moving the teeth in a predetermined sequence over a set amount of time. While we use software that helps best predict the movements of the teeth, they do not always move accordingly.

Nearly every aligner patient will have at least one “refinement” or “new stage” of treatment. This simply means we will have the patient stay in their current tray, scan their current bite, and create a new sequence of trays. This new sequence will pay special attention to any teeth not following the previous sequence to make sure they move into the correct position.

Once we have submitted this new sequence, we will receive a new set of trays after a few weeks. The patient will come in to receive these new trays and we will start the next “stage” of treatment!

I Have a Rough Spot on my Tray, What do I do?

If you notice a rough spot on your tray irritating your mouth, gently smooth the rough area with an emery board. If you continue to experience discomfort, please call your orthodontist.