Getting Rid Of Your Invisalign Braces

You’ve come to the end of your Invisalign teeth straightening process. For 22 hours every single day, you’ve religiously worn your Invisalign trays.

Now that the Invisalign treatment is drawing to a close, you can throw your aligners away, sit back and enjoy the fruits of your labour, right?

Not quite.

Don’t fall into a false sense of comfort. Whilst the aligners will be a thing of the past, your Invisalign treatment isn’t complete just yet!

When you undergo teeth straightening, your mouth and jaw bones need to adjust and regenerate around the new position of your teeth. This is not a quick process and isn’t permanent either. Over the weeks and months, your teeth will keep moving unless you secure them in the right position.

What do you need to remember when you stop wearing your Invisalign trays?

Wearing Your Retainer

After the first stage of your Invisalign treatment has ended and you’re saying your sweet goodbyes to your aligner trays, you’ll welcome in its replacement: a retainer.

You won’t notice much of a difference between the aligners and retainers, given that you are graduating straight from the former to the latter. It will be custom-made to fit your mouth so should be comfortable to wear.

The retainer essentially holds your teeth in their lovely new straight position. There are 2 options for retainers after Invisalign treatment: a plastic, removable retainer or a permanent metal bar retainer.

For the first 6 months at least following the first phase of treatment, you’ll likely have to wear your retainer full-time, as you did your aligners.

After a while, you’ll only wear your retainer at night, freeing your teeth during the day. When your dentist recommends it, you’ll be able to wear it every few nights, but you’ll have to consistently wear it forever in order to keep your teeth in the right position.

Retainer Maintenance

Since you’ll be wearing your retainer frequently, it needs to be in tip top shape in order to properly protect your teeth.

You should clean your retainer every single day. Don’t use toothpaste on it, as this is an abrasive and will mark the retainer.

Instead you have two options: washing in soapy water with a toothbrush, or soaking for 10-20 minutes in a special tablet solution which your dentist can give to you.

Every 6-12 months, you’ll get a new retainer from your dentist so it can work as efficiently as possible.

Brushing and Flossing

As always, it is vital that you keep your teeth and gum health in optimum condition by brushing and flossing twice a day, every day.

This will set a good foundation for the maintenance of the results from the Invisalign teeth straightening process. Decay or diseased teeth and gums will not be able to support lovely straight teeth.

Food and Drink

When you were wearing your aligner trays, you had to avoid certain types of foods and drinks, and when you are wearing your retainer, the same rules will apply.

Don’t wear your retainer when you’re eating or drinking hot beverages. This will damage it and cause bacteria to form on it, which will be touching your teeth for hours on end.

Avoid gum at all costs too.

You should aim to eat a healthy and balanced diet, full of fruits and vegetables, lean protein, healthy fats, and complex carbohydrates. You are allowed some sugar, but it must be in moderation!

Once you’re finished eating, brush your teeth and rinse your retainer before putting it back in.

Appointments

You might have lost count of how many times you’ve had to visit the dentist over the course of your initial treatment, but it’s as important at this stage to continue to visit them regularly.

Make sure you schedule dental check-ups regularly. This will allow your dentist to monitor the progress you’re making. If any issues arise, they’ll be able to spot it quickly and amend it before all your hard work comes undone.

If your teeth are shifting or look too crowded, your dentist will create you a new retainer that fits your mouth better.

If you fail to visit your dentist regularly, you might quickly spiral back to square one!

Interested In Invisalign?

Invisalign treatment is a modern, time-efficient and highly effective teeth straightening process. There are so many reasons why people opt for invisalign over traditional metal braces.

Here at Buttercup, we believe that straight teeth offer more than just a pretty smile so we want you to know all about the process and benefits of Invisalign.

From how they work to whether they hurt, the dentists at Buttercup 7 Day Dental can answer all of your queries and concerns. Contact us today to make an appointment to discuss your options.