7 Oral Hygiene Mistakes to Avoid During Clear Aligner Treatment

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oral hygiene

Are you in the process of obtaining invisible aligners for fixing your teeth alignment? If so, then you have made an excellent decision. Removable aligners are an amazing option for those who value convenience and discrete treatment.

However, you need to avoid certain mistakes related to your oral hygiene to ensure the best teeth alignment therapy results. Avoiding these mistakes will ensure that your teeth move to their desired positions more quickly and efficiently. So, let’s dig in!

Avoiding Eating with Aligners

clear aligners
A set of clear aligners in a container

You may feel hungry while you wear your invisible aligners and believe that it is no big issue to eat whatever snacks are lying about, but this is not ideal at all. Reason? Because eating food with removable aligners can seriously damage or compromise them.

Chewing away food usually leads to food particles getting trapped between your removable braces and teeth, which can lead to bacteria buildup. Furthermore, certain foods might even affect your clear aligner’s transparency and leave a yellow color stain on them.

Therefore, you need to remove your invisible aligners when you wish to eat. Additionally, when you’re done with your snack or meal, always rinse your mouth, clean your tongue, and brush your teeth before applying your removable aligners. This way, your invisible aligners remain hygienic and clean.

Find out if you qualify for clear aligners by filling out ALIGNERCO’s smile assessment online.

Don’t Drink with Aligners

You may think that drinking soda or juice is completely normal while wearing removable aligners, but this is far from the truth. Certain beverages like red wine, fruit juices, soda, or any colored beverage can compromise your clear aligners structure or even impair them. Sugary beverages can also become an issue as they get stuck to your teeth and aligners, which causes cavities.

Drinking water, on the other hand, is completely safe when wearing removable aligners. If you feel like you want to drink something else, then simply remove your clear aligners and then have your soda or juice, rinse and brush your teeth, and reinsert your clear aligners. This process helps to maintain the hygiene of your aligners and keep your teeth clean.

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Not Cleaning Removable Aligners

clear aligners
A set of cleaning tools for clear aligners

You need to be careful of bacteria buildup while wearing invisible aligners, as you need to clean your invisible aligners regularly. Clear aligners can be easily cleaned with a soft bristle toothbrush and lukewarm water.

Additionally, you can also use a denture cleaner or special aligner cleaning solution. Always rinse your removable aligners before use. You need to be careful when using mouthwash, toothpaste, denture cleaner, and scented soaps with harmful or harsh substances or alcohol.

Avoid Humid and Hot Environments

Taking care of clear aligners should be your top priority, so you need to avoid placing them in humid or hot environments like along a heater or inside a car on a humid day. Excess heat can damage the plastic of clear aligners, and they will not fit as originally intended. If your aligners lose their desired fit, they won’t function and align teeth as needed.

To avoid the situation, you need to ensure that your removable aligners are always placed in a cool or dry place, like an airy aligner storage box, when not in use. Furthermore, you need to ensure that you don’t rinse your removable aligners in hot water, as they can get warped. Always rinse and clean aligners with cool water.

Leave Clear Aligners Out in the Open

When you need to remove your invisible aligners to brush, floss, or eat, don’t just place them anywhere! If you leave and place your removable aligners on any napkin, stand, or table, they could get infected with bacteria or dirt, or you may even lose them. People often mistake aligners for garbage and throw them away, unaware that they are important dental devices.

Therefore, you should always keep a solid and breathable aligner case with you. When you need to remove your clear aligners, simply put them in your aligner case. As a result, they remain clean, safe, and easy to remove when needed.

Maintain Dental Hygiene

We often forget about maintaining an ideal level of dental hygiene when wearing removable aligners for teeth alignment. Proper oral hygiene is important for ensuring proper teeth alignment results. Proper flossing and brushing must be carried out after every meal or drink. This helps remove bacteria that gets trapped in teeth which can lead to gum diseases or cavities.

Adopting removable aligners can often result in reduced saliva production in your mouth, which removes many bacteria. As a result, you need to be proactive about your dental health and keep your mouth free from all kinds of bacteria and plaque. This will lead to a more successful smile transformation.

Don’t Smoke With Aligners

Smoking while wearing aligners is very risky and harmful for your teeth straightening treatment. Besides contributing to various bacteria and gum infections, smoking can also stain your removable aligners, making them clearly noticeable.

Furthermore, smoking can also lower your dental health as you need to floss and brush much more. As a result, you might not attain your desired teeth alignment results with excess smoking, so it should be avoided as much as possible.

Summing Up

Clear aligners, such as those provided by ALIGNERCO are revolutionary orthodontic devices for teeth alignment. But to ensure their ideal working efficiency, you need to avoid common hygiene mistakes. Always try to maintain your removable aligners in the best possible condition for achieving your perfect smile.

Find out more about clear aligners by giving us a call at +351 300 600 820

FAQs

1. Can we eat with aligners?

No, eating with aligners can spread bacteria as food particles get stuck between teeth and the aligner area. This can lead to cavities and gum infections.

2. Do we need to rinse aligners after every meal?

Yes, you need to properly rinse aligners with lukewarm water to ensure proper dental hygiene.

3. Can we smoke with aligners?

No, smoking is not recommended with clear aligner treatment as it can cause aligners to get stained and also affect your teeth alignment results.