With December here, the holiday season is now fully in swing. Wherever you look, families are starting to decorate their homes, shop for end-of-year gifts, and plan various travel getaways. Still, don’t let this new busyness distract you from sticking to Invisalign in Cincinnati. Otherwise, you might delay or derail the straightened smile you want. Fortunately, your local dentist has some ideas for staying on track. Here, then, are three amazing tips for handling Invisalign treatment over the holiday season.
Meet the Daily Wear Time
Effective Invisalign treatment depends on meeting your daily wear time. In other words, you need to wear your trays for roughly 20-22 hours per day.
You see, aligners only align your teeth when they stay in your mouth long enough. Your teeth will quickly return to their previous positions if they don’t. If that happens, your treatment progress will either slow down or reverse.
To remember the aligner wear time, set a daily phone alarm as a workaround. That way, you’ll have a handy reminder to pop your trays back in each morning.
Remove the Aligners for Foods & Drinks
While you might want to wear your aligners during a meal, that’s not a good idea. For example, sipping a hot drink could damage the trays’ structure and interfere with treatment. The warm liquid could also bend the aligners out of shape and thus move your teeth in the wrong direction. You’d then face extra pain when switching to new trays, as your teeth wouldn’t be in the right place or prepared.
Given these facts, you should always remove your aligners before eating or drinking. The only exception to this rule is lukewarm water, which shouldn’t harm the trays.
Brush & Floss After Every Meal
Brushing and flossing your pearly whites after a meal is always good. Still, this practice is even more crucial when going through Invisalign.
In truth, food gets stuck between your teeth when you eat. Without a post-meal cleaning, then, these “leftovers” will get trapped beneath your trays. They’ll then have time to cause bad breath, bacterial growth, and tooth decay. From there, the resulting oral issues could disrupt your Invisalign plan.
To prevent such problems, you should carry a travel-size dental kit when you’re out and about. Doing so will give you the tools — toothbrush, mini-toothpaste, etc. — to clean your mouth before re-inserting the aligners.
As you can see, keeping up with Invisalign in Cincinnati is possible — even during the holidays! Therefore, follow the tips above as you celebrate the festivities!
About the Practice
Fresh Dental is based in Cincinnati, OH. As led by Dr. Ejaz Lakhani, our practice offers full-spectrum dental care to all local patients. To that end, we perform high-quality treatments that span preventive, cosmetic, and restorative dentistry, not to mention emergency procedures. The office also takes pride in being a certified provider of Invisalign clear aligners. For more information or to book a visit, you can reach us on our website or by phone at (513)-697-1211.