We love Invisalign and our patients do too!

Letting your Invisalign get dirty can reduce their effectiveness both as a dental realignment tool and as the social advantage you were hoping for in the first place. Dirty Invisalign retainers will draw attention to themselves and even become less effective over time.

Learning how to properly wear and clean your Invisalign is essential to keeping them looking and feeling as new as possible.

Here are 4 tips on how to clean your Invisalign braces.

Brushing

The gunk that builds up on your teeth during the night and when you eat becomes even grosser and harmful if you leave it under your Invisalign braces to build up all day. This is why you need to make sure that you brush your teeth before the braces go on and right after they come off at night. Flossing wouldn’t hurt either.

Did you know that you need to brush the Invisalign braces themselves too? Cleaning them every morning and evening will keep them clear of stains and debris that reduce the “invisible” part and make them lose their advantage over normal braces. Be careful not to use toothpaste, however, which can stain the braces.

Watch Invisalign Cleaning Tips

A good rinse (don’t be afraid to use soap!) will keep your Invisalign braces looking as clear and free of bacteria as when you bought them. Just don’t use soap that has a scent in it as it could leave your braces tasting weird when you put them back in.

Soaking

You’re supposed to wear your Invisalign for 22 hours a day. What do you do with them during the extra 2 hours? This is where soaking comes in.

If you look up any information online on how to clean Invisalign, you’ll come across the “cleaning crystals” designed specifically for your braces. Anyone well-versed in orthodontic care will tell you that cleaning is everything and these crystals are designed to help you with that.

Let the Invisalign braces soak in warm water with the crystals for about 20 minutes and brush them again when they’re done. Be sure to dry them before putting them back on your teeth to prevent moisture from staining the inside and making them visible.

Remember that you should do this every day. It’s the only way to stay ahead of the stains and keep your Invisalign braces looking as invisible as they should.

Taking them out

One of the advantages of Invisalign over conventional braces is that you can eat whatever you want. If you need a break from your dental work during an important call or when you’re having a particularly tough time sleeping, you can take them out. Knowing how to do so is important to keep them new (or as new as humanly possible).

Make sure you don’t enjoy your culinary freedom while the Invisalign braces are still in your mouth. They were designed to straighten your teeth, not to chew food. They resist stains from saliva, but not from Mountain Dew.

So if you’re putting something in your mouth besides water, take your Invisalign braces out first. If you think learning how to clean Invisalign is hard on a normal day, you don’t even want to know what gum-chewers have to go through.

Leaving them around

It goes without saying that you shouldn’t leave your Invisalign braces lying around to be lost. However, keeping track of them matters for cleanliness too.

Leaving them in the open air can stain them and dry them out, making them tougher to wear and less invisible. To keep your Invisalign braces “new” for as long as possible, bring your case with you wherever you go. Make the time between your mouth and the case as short as possible.

Another thing to consider is to contact your dentist or orthodontic care professional when you plan on taking a long trip. If you cross a treatment threshold and need to upgrade your braces while you’re gone, you want to have the next stage of Invisalign before you go so the treatment doesn’t take any longer than it has to.

The Takeaway

Invisalign braces are a great alternative to conventional braces. They’re less expensive, less bulky, and less painful. They come with some amazing advantages like eating whatever you want, being able to take them out, and being able to take charge of the cleanliness of your own braces.

However, this means that you have to know how to clean your Invisalign. Brushing your teeth is even more important when they’re trapped under your braces all day. You really don’t want your breath to suffer from trapped food and bacteria build-up. You need to brush the braces too and let them soak once a day in a warm water solution.

You don’t want to leave them out in the open air to get lost or stained because the “invisible” part of Invisalign is one of the main advantages. This also means refraining from using things to clean them that could stain them like scented soaps or toothpaste.

Orthodontic care is expensive and Invisalign could be a great alternative treatment for you. Yet, if the advantage of getting these braces is their invisibility, it makes sense that letting them get dirty, stained, or crusty defeats the purpose.