Here at Indigo Dental, we are proud providers of ClearCorrect aligners for teeth straightening.
During this process, and also at the end once you receive your final retainers, there are some things you need to know about in terms of looking after the aligners.
- Aligner Storage. When you receive your aligners, you will get a little hard plastic case to store them in. You should always try to store your aligners in a protective case instead of just
wrapping them up in tissue paper, as they can break if something falls on them or if they’re sat on. They might even be thrown in the rubbish as a mistaken used tissue!
- Take the aligners out to eat, as keeping them in when eating or drinking something else than water could make them cloudy, distort them if in contact with heat or worse, could cause them to crack and become ineffective.
- When it’s time to eat, just pop the aligners out, rinse them off with water and keep them in their case (you can rinse them off after taking them out or before putting them back in or both, depending on your level of hygiene and lifestyle routine).
- Hygiene and Cleaning Tips. Keeping your aligners clean is so very important, and maintaining proper dental hygiene is just as essential! Luckily it’s so much easier with removable aligners to keep ideal oral health during the process than it is with fixed braces you can literally take them out to properly brush and floss. The aligners are made to press accurately and precisely on your teeth. The teeth surfaces need to be clean to have the right forces on them. This
is why your teeth need to be brushed and cleaned thoroughly after eating before placing the aligners back over your teeth. Wearing aligners with food inside could damage them and stop the tooth movement delaying your progress.
- Wear your Aligners for 22 hours per day. Though aligners should be worn 22 hours a day to work as your treatment plan predicts, life isn’t always so accommodating. Aligners, on the other hand, were made to accommodate our modern lifestyle – just take them out for the occasion and pop them back in afterwards. As long as you make sure to follow your regimen properly the rest of the time, there’s no harm in leaving your aligners in their case a little longer once every so often – just don’t make it a habit!
If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact our team on 0113 263 2960, or send an email to [email protected]
Written by Dr Sanaa Kader, 30/09/2020