Crooked teeth may ruin your smile. Thankfully, modern dentistry has provided us with a lot of ways to solve this problem. 

One of the excellent ways to straighten your teeth is with Invisalign. They are a form of dental braces called clear aligners which relies on plastic forms rather than metal wires to adjust your teeth.

To help you have a more comfortable experience while wearing your Invisalign, we have a couple of hacks and tips for you to try out.

Invisalign Hacks for Drinking

When it comes to drinking while wearing Invisalign, you need to remember one important thing: always remove your Invisalign before drinking anything other than water.

Why? Here are some reasons:

• To avoid trapping sugar and acid between your teeth and your aligners
• To prevent warping 
• To avoid staining your clear aligners

Avoid Sugar and Acid

Our dentists always remind us not to consume too much sugar and acid. This is because these two are the main culprits in weakening our teeth, which opens them up to tooth decay and infection.

Since Invisalign works by closely sticking to your teeth, they might trap any sugary or acidic liquid you drink.

Always make sure that after drinking anything sugary or acidic, rinse your mouth well before putting your Invisalign back in.

Prevent Warping

Since Invisalign is a plastic aligner, it’s also susceptible to damage due to extreme temperatures like any other plastic material.

Hot beverages like coffee and tea might warp your Invisalign due to heat and lessen its effectiveness.

Avoid Staining

The last thing you’d want your clear aligners to be is to be dirty. Make sure you are not wearing them whenever you drink something that can stain them like coffee.

Can I drink through a straw with Invisalign in?

You can use a straw while wearing Invisalign. Since there are times when you cannot help it and want to drink something besides water, a straw might be able to help you.

Straws can minimise the contact of the drink with your Invisalign and prevent problems like staining your teeth and warping your Invisalign.

Drinking with a straw is also a good alternative rather than removing your aligner every time.

However, it should be noted that straws won’t completely protect you from these aforementioned problems. Straws may help, but proper dental hygiene and Invisalign care are your best defence against teeth staining and Invisalign warping.

Invisalign Hacks for People with Sensitive Teeth

Let’s face it, if we want to have a perfect smile, we will have to experience some discomfort during dental treatments like Invisalign. For people with sensitive teeth, this might be more difficult.

Hopefully, the following hacks can lessen the pain you’ll feel when wearing your Invisalign:

• Drink ice-cold water
• Only consume soft food
• Take pain relievers if needed

Always drink ice-cold water

Drinking cold water can help lessen your teeth’s sensitivity and the pain you feel when wearing your Invisalign. 

Cold temperatures are proven to help in calming down the nerves in your teeth as well as lessen the swelling of your gums. Drinking cold water can also keep your mouth clean and rinse off any stuck food particles on your Invisalign. 

Only consume soft food

Your teeth are most sensitive in the first few days of your Invisalign treatment. Stick only to eating soupy or soft foods during these days to prevent putting too much pressure on your teeth.

After the first few days, you can slowly go back to your normal diet, but it’s still recommended that you stay away from crunchy foods.

Take pain relievers if needed

Should the pain from wearing your Invisalign become too distracting, it’s recommended that you take some over-the-counter pain relievers to relieve your sensitivity.

However, if the pain still persists, don’t be afraid to contact your orthodontist and ask for help immediately.

Should I take my Invisalign out if it hurts?

Whenever you feel pain from your Invisalign, it’s better to consider other options first before attempting to remove them.

There are already many times during the day when you need to remove your Invisalign like during mealtimes. 

For the treatment to work, you need to make sure you remove your Invisalign only when necessary.

Try other methods first like sucking on ice and drinking painkillers before considering removing your Invisalign. 

If you really need to remove your Invisalign, remember to never rush in pulling them out and do it carefully to avoid more pain.

Why does my Invisalign hurt all of a sudden?

If you feel sudden pain from your Invisalign, that’s because the treatment process is not normal for the body and your body will attempt to resist the changes to your teeth. 

The pain you are feeling is your teeth starting to move to their proper position. 

It’s possible to still feel sudden pain days into the treatment. Some teeth may react slower to the aligner and thus may only start to move a few weeks after the first day of wearing Invisalign.

How to deal with Invisalign pain?

There are many ways to deal with your Invisalign pain like drinking cold water, sucking on ice cubes, and using pain relievers.

By drinking ice-cold water or sucking on ice cubes, you can temporarily ease the pain you experience, as these reduce the sensitivity of your tooth nerves.

You can also try using pain relievers to help reduce the pain, especially when your teeth start to move, as these are the times when the pain can be felt the strongest.

Most people also feel pain after waking up when they’ve just switched to a new tray of Invisalign. A good trick is to instead switch your tray before you sleep so as to let your teeth adjust while you are still sleeping.

How to Tell if Your Invisalign Is Too Loose

A good way to tell if your aligners are too loose is if you still feel that your Invisalign isn’t close to your back molar after a few days of wearing it. 

After the first few weeks of the treatment, your Invisalign should no longer cause any discomfort on your teeth and should fit well because it has done its job in moving your teeth into their proper places.

However, there might be times when you feel that your Invisalign is too loose and is not doing its job properly.

As the Invisalign starts to move your teeth, they should instead stick better as time goes by rather than not changing at all.

Usually, you can use chewies to solve this problem, but if they are still popping off despite doing everything properly, then it might be time to contact your orthodontist.

What should I do if my Invisalign attachment comes off?

If your Invisalign starts to come off, the first thing you should do is to immediately inform your orthodontist of the situation so that they can give you a better one on your next visit.

However, you should not stop wearing your Invisalign so that you can still continue your treatment. By also keeping them on, you also prevent your teeth from relapsing and going back to their old positions.

Why can’t I close my mouth with Invisalign?

It is normal that you’ll not be able to fully close your mouth while wearing your Invisalign during the first few days of treatment. This is because your mouth is still too sore as it reacts to your new Invisalign.

However, as days pass, your mouth will begin adjusting to the Invisalign and will no longer be sore. 

But if you cannot close your mouth due to pain from the sharp edges of your Invisalign, you should call your orthodontist so that they can trim away those edges.

How long does it take for teeth to settle using Invisalign?

The time it takes for Invisalign to settle on your teeth varies with every patient. The pain may subside after a few days, but the total treatment process may take between six months and more than a year.

The process is slow because Invisalign only guides your teeth to their proper positions. The treatment carefully puts pressure on the bone structures supporting your teeth so that they may move to the correct place.

After your Invisalign treatment has been completed, you may still need to wear retainers to prevent your teeth from relapsing back to their old positions.

What is the best way to clean Invisalign retainers?

There are many ways you can use to clean your Invisalign retainers. The best way is to of course use the cleaning crystals provided to you by your orthodontist.

However, there are also some other ways you can clean your Invisalign retainers if you run out of cleaning crystals. Some of these methods are

• Using white vinegar
• Hydrogen peroxide
• Toothbrush and liquid soap

White Vinegar

You can use vinegar to clean your retainers because it is a natural disinfectant. Simply mix 3 parts of water and 1 part vinegar in a container and leave your retainers in for 30 minutes.

Hydrogen Peroxide

Hydrogen peroxide is another reliable disinfectant. To clean your Invisalign, simply mix equal parts of hydrogen peroxide and water in a container and leave your retainers in for 30 minutes.

However, be careful when using this chemical. Don’t use it on your teeth directly.

Having high concentrations of it regularly will damage your teeth.

Toothbrush and Liquid Soap

Should you need a quick way to clean your retainers, you can also use a toothbrush to carefully clean your retainers with liquid soap. Just make sure to rinse your Invisalign retainers well before putting them back in your mouth.

Don’t use toothpaste to clean your retainers, as it has abrasive properties which can damage the plastic material of your Invisalign retainers.

How do you get food out of Invisalign?

Should you find any food material stuck in your Invisalign, you can use a soft-bristled toothbrush to gently scrape away the food particles.

For harder-to-reach food particles, you can also rely on traditional methods like toothpicks to fish them out.

You can also use water-powered floss to wash away the food from your Invisalign, but they tend to be pricier than the other methods mentioned.

If no home remedy works, you can ask the help of your orthodontist about this problem.

Do you have to brush your teeth every time you put your Invisalign back in?

You always need to brush your teeth after eating and before putting your Invisalign back in. 

Since it’s unavoidable that some food may be left stuck between your teeth after eating, it’s wise to always try and remove them first by brushing.

Invisalign works because it sticks close to your teeth to guide them to their proper positions. If some food gets stuck between your teeth and your Invisalign, it may damage your Invisalign and your teeth.

Another issue is also the possibility of tooth decay. If your Invisalign pushes the food deeper between your teeth, it may cause the growth of bacteria responsible for tooth decay.

What do you do after you finish Invisalign?

After months of discomfort, you can finally take off your Invisalign for good, right? Not yet. Your orthodontist will likely require you to wear retainers for a few weeks or months to make sure your teeth will no longer relapse.

Most people who wear braces or aligners can suffer from relapse. This is when your teeth will slowly come back to their crooked state.

There are two types of retainers your orthodontist may recommend to you to prevent relapse: the first is a fixed wire retainer and the second is a removable retainer.

Wire retainers are glued to the back of your teeth and are typically used if your orthodontist thinks that your chances of teeth relapse are high.

Removable retainers on the other hand are more like your Invisalign and can be removed anytime. Your orthodontist will prescribe to you how many hours you need to wear it every day.

Only your orthodontist can tell you what retainer you should use, so always ask their opinion on the matter.

Do I need a retainer after an Invisalign treatment? 

No one but your orthodontist can say since they are the ones who monitor the progress of your treatment.

If they feel like a teeth relapse is likely to occur, then they will recommend you use a retainer to prevent all those months wearing Invisalign from going to waste.

Even if the chances of tooth relapse are low, it’s still a good idea to use retainers since your teeth may still move and grow as you age. 

With a retainer, you can make sure that your teeth remain in their proper positions.