How to clean your Invisalign aligners

Cleaning your Invisalign aligners is just as important as cleaning your teeth. Not only do you lessen the chances of your Invisalign trays breaking, cracking, and discolouring, you’re also limiting the damage your teeth could experience

How to clean your Invisalign braces

The best method is to soak them in a denture cleaner or Invisalign cleaning crystals. Set aside a soft-bristled toothbrush for scrubbing your aligner trays and once a day soak them in your preferred cleaner and brush them. This removes dried salvia that could cause cracking, food particles that can heighten your chances of decay, and any dried material that might cause them to discolour or smell. Rinse them with water to avoid an aftertaste.

Clean them when you wake up

You should be wearing your Invisalign aligners for the recommended 20 – 22 hours per day, which means you should also wear them at night when you sleep. When you wake up in the morning, remove your Invisalign braces and clean both the trays thoroughly as detailed above. Do this as soon as you wake up and don’t replace your aligners in your mouth until you’ve had breakfast and cleaned your teeth afterwards, too, otherwise you risk incubating bacteria in warm and wet areas where they love to breed.

Rinse your Invisalign aligners regularly

Whenever you take your Invisalign braces out, make sure you rinse them with clean and cold water before storing them or putting them back in. This prevents saliva and food debris from drying into the trays, which can lead to cracking and therefore breakage.

Remove your Invisalign aligners to eat

You must always remove your Invisalign braces for meals and snacks. The trays are not designed to withstand the pressures of chewing and biting, so they can be cracked and broken when put under that kind of pressure. Food and drink particles that would typically stain your teeth, like coffee and curries, will also readily stain your Invisalign braces too, so it’s always best to remove them. Drinking water with your Invisalign trays in is fine, but nothing more sinister than this!

Always clean your teeth

After you’ve removed your aligners for mealtimes and snacks, you can then put them back in once you’ve cleaned your teeth. Cleaning your teeth before inserting your Invisalign trays is super important, because allowing food debris and sugars to remain trapped between teeth, gums, and the plastic aligners provides the perfect bacteria-breeding environment. This will not only cause visible deposits in your trays but will increase your risk of cavities. Your breath could even begin to smell due to the bacteria’s respiration and breaking down of the food debris, and as this debris and saliva mix, they could threaten the integrity of your aligners. Brushing and flossing is a good idea anyway, but it’s even more important with these kinds of dental treatments in contact with your tooth surfaces!

For all aftercare, maintenance, and cleaning advice, feel free to seek the dental professionals on our team. Invisalign braces are available from Crescent Lodge Dental Practice in Clapham Common, and we’d be more than happy to meet with you for your initial consultation. To book your Invisalign appointment, get in touch on 020 7622 5333 today.

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