Invisalign Care
Invisalign Treatment in Kansas City, MO
At Creekwood Orthodontics, we take pride in helping each of our patients achieve a beautiful, healthy smile that lasts a lifetime. Dr. Dorsch works with every patient on an individual level by designing a personalized, highly effective treatment plan that perfectly suits each patient’s unique orthodontic needs. We're proud to offer a variety of orthodontic treatment methods at our offices, including both traditional braces and alternatives like Invisalign or Invisalign Teen. If you're receiving your orthodontic treatment with Invisalign, you're on your way to a beautiful new smile. To make sure everything goes smoothly, however, you'll have to be conscientious about caring for your teeth and aligners during treatment.
Developing New Dental Habits
Successful orthodontic treatment requires more than just moving teeth—it’s also critically important to keep your teeth clean and healthy to avoid derailing your treatment. To do that, you'll need a strong oral hygiene regimen. You'll want to brush your teeth every time before you reinsert your aligners, at a minimum of four times a day, and you'll need to floss every day before bed. Additionally, when you start your Invisalign treatment, we'll give you a special case for carrying your aligners—so be sure to use it! Throughout the entirety of your treatment, your aligners should only ever be stored in one of two places: your case or your mouth. Using the case helps protect your aligners from damage, exposure to bacteria, or being accidentally thrown out in a napkin. Trust us, accidentally throwing our your aligners is more common than you think.
Caring for Your Invisalign Aligners
If you're wearing Invisalign, your new dental habits regimen needs to encompass the care for your aligners as well. Here are a few simple tips for keeping your teeth and aligners clean and ensuring your treatment goes just as planned:
- Brush Your Aligners: Your teeth aren't the only things that need brushing! Take care to brush your aligners every time you take them out or put them back in. That's the only way to guarantee they stay clean and fresh. Just be sure to brush them gently to avoid scratching them and don’t use toothpaste. Toothpaste has been known to damage aligners.
- Soak Your Aligners Regularly: Along with regularly brushing the aligners, you should also soak them in a special cleaning solution on a regular basis. Simply drop your aligners into a cup of water along with a denture cleaning, retainer cleaning, or specially formulated Invisalign cleaning tablet.
- Wash Your Aligners with Soap: If brushing isn't cutting it and you don't have time to soak, you can also use antibacterial soft soap to clean them. This cuts through oils while simultaneously killing bacteria, helping to keep your aligners clean and odor-free. Just make sure it's not a colored soap as these will stain your aligners.
- No Food or Drink While Wearing Your Aligners: When you're wearing your aligners, it's important to not eat or drink anything; the only exception here is water. Foods can get trapped under or damage your aligners, jeopardizing your treatment and putting your teeth at risk. Liquids other than water can stain or discolor aligners, which often makes them smell bad and could also damage your teeth.
Schedule An Appointment With Your Kansas City, MO Expert Orthodontist!
With proper, conscientious care, your Invisalign aligners will move your teeth to new positions, helping you achieve a beautiful, healthy smile that will last a lifetime. If you have any other questions on caring for your Invisalign aligners or want to find out more about how Invisalign can help you achieve a beautiful smile, we're always happy to help. Feel free to contact our highly trained team of orthodontic specialists by calling us at 816-454-6800 with any questions or use our easy online form to schedule an appointment at our Liberty, Cameron, or Kansas City, MO office. We can't wait to hear from you!