- For your clear aligners to work, you must wear them for 22 hours a day. You may be instructed to wear each set of aligners for 7 or 14 days. Please follow the instructions given at our office for your specific case.
- You should only take your aligners out to eat or drink something other than water, and when brushing/flossing your teeth throughout the day.
- All of your aligners have been dated, please follow the dates when changing aligners.
- We want you to save aligner #1 in case you lose aligner #2. You will only save the previous set of aligners and discard the older ones, so you don’t get confused. For example, when you start wearing aligner #4 you will save aligner #3, but make sure you have thrown away aligners #1 and 2.
- Whenever you take your aligners out always place them in the aligner case, so that they aren’t thrown away, placed in your pocket or wrapped in a napkin.
- You can drink with aligners in, but if you’re drinking anything with sugar, we recommend removing them and rinsing the aligners and your mouth so sugar is not sitting on your teeth. Try to brush your teeth and aligners after meals/snacks so that food isn’t sitting packed on your teeth with the aligners on. If you don’t not have a toothbrush with you, swish well with water and rinse your aligners. We recommend avoiding coffee, red wine, dark soda and juice with the aligners in, because they may stain/discolor them.
- Brush your aligners with toothbrush and cool water to keep them clean, avoid hot water so your aligners don’t melt or change shape.
- Your aligners may be the tightest the first day or two, therefore you may want to take Advil/Aleve to prevent soreness. Repeat every time you switch to a new set if needed.
- If one of your attachments come off it is NOT an emergency – just let us know and we will decide whether that attachment needs to be replaced immediately. BUT if multiple attachments have come off, please call us right away to schedule an appointment.
- NEVER GUESS with clear aligners – IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS ALWAYS CALL. If you lose a set of aligners, go back to wearing your last set and call us so we can either schedule you to come in or we may have you switch to your next set early.
- If you have animals at home, BE CAREFUL. They like the taste and smell of saliva and will chew through the case as well. Be sure to keep them somewhere they can’t reach.
- Please remember the aligners are plastic, so don’t leave them in a hot car, use hot water, or boil them. Keep them at room temperature.
- Lastly, every appointment PLEASE make sure you are wearing your current aligners, that way the doctor and assistants can make sure your trays are fitting properly.