If your teeth are misaligned or crooked, and you’re an adult or self-conscious teenager, the idea of wearing clumsy teeth braces might be unappealing. Luckily, there is an alternative nowadays, and that is Invisalign. These aligners are becoming increasingly popular. Not only are they a highly effective method of straightening teeth, but they’re also practically invisible. They’re also removable, so can be taken out if you want to play contact sports or for eating.

We’ll first look at how these miracle braces work and then consider ways in which they can fit around your normal daily life, including a few tips on avoiding potential problems.

How the Invisalign Solution Works

Your dentist will take impressions and fit custom-made clear plastic trays that must be worn around 20 to 22 hours each day. That gives you around two to four hours for eating, cleaning teeth and any other activity that might make it difficult to do while wearing the Invisalign trays.

The trays are swapped for new ones every two to three weeks, each one exerting a gentle pressure in different ways and areas to rearrange the positioning of the teeth in your mouth. It’s very important that you stick to the regime outlined by your dentists in Dudley, otherwise you might not get the results you hope for or the treatment period will last longer than expected.

If you wear the aligners for the recommended time each day, then you will become accustomed to the feeling of them in your mouth. Leaving them off for longer periods will only result in them feeling more uncomfortable when you DO wear them.

Recommended Tips for Wearers

Pay close attention to oral hygiene while you’re using Invisalign trays and keep the aligners clean, especially after mealtimes. If you don’t, then you’re risking not only bad breath caused by trapped food particles and bacteria, but also sore, bleeding gums, stained teeth and even a sore throat.

Tooth decay is also a concern. Remember, you’re effectively covering your teeth for the majority of the day, which means saliva can’t naturally clean the bacteria from teeth surfaces as it would usually do. So if you don’t pay good attention to your oral hygiene, you may end up with straightened teeth, but cavities caused by decay too.

The aligner trays should be removed while you eat. Because you have a limited slot for not wearing the Invisalign braces, this can reduce the tendency to snack between meals and therefore even help with weight loss! On the downside, this means that you have to be much more organised and plan meal times ahead while using Invisalign. People with long-term conditions like diabetes where they must eat regularly should discuss this fully with their dentists in Dudley before committing to the treatment.

If you are worried about drooling, excessive probing of the braces with your tongue or chewing and grinding habits, speak to your dentist. While these activities aren’t likely to harm the trays, as they’re switched every two weeks, they can put you off wearing your braces or cause irritation of the soft tissue in the mouth. Make sure you’re fully prepared for possible side effects like these by discussing the treatment fully with your dentists in Dudley before deciding whether it’s right for you.