Here are 10 things you should know as you start your invisalign journey.

1. Is invisalign treatment painful?

Invisalign treatment is not painful. There will be moments when you feel certain pressures in some areas and also when you change aligners you will feel pressure maybe in a different spot. In general, you’ll feel any pressure subside in two to three days at most. Also it’s totally normal not to feel pressure at all.

2. How often should you be wearing your aligners?

For the most predictable and reliable result, you should be wearing your liners 18 to 22 hours every day for two weeks each aligner.

3. How to clean your aligners?

Remember to clean your liners daily. You can brush your liners with a toothbrush and some soapy water. Brush them before you put them back on. Another thing you can do is soak your aligners in a cup of water with a cleaning tablet for more ways to clean your aligners.

4. What are attachments and how do they work?

Attachments are little dimples that bond to your teeth, so that there’s some added leverage to move your teeth. Your teeth are essentially flat surfaces and there are some movements like rotations and torques that cannot be levered onto the tooth unless there’s a little dimple on there.

5. What is IPR and is it necessary for your invisalign treatment?

IPR stands for interproximal reduction. It’s the process of polishing in between the teeth. So that space is created to move the teeth in the desired direction. Is it necessary? Not always, and when it’s done there’s always a specific reason, such as to eliminate black triangles.

6. Will your speech be affected?

Anytime you place anything new in your mouth, your speech will be affected. The aligner is very thin and it molds very closely to your teeth. As your tongue adapts to this new position, any lisp will disappear.

7. Can you drink tea or coffee with your aligners on?

Both coffee and tea will stain your aligners and your teeth, so it’s best to remove them before you drink anything. Also lighter colored teas with no added sugar at room temperature or cooler would be better. If you must, you can also use a straw. Remember to remove your aligners whenever you’re eating or drinking anything. However you can always drink water.

8. What do I do if I mix and match my aligners?

Each aligner bag has on it your patient ID as well as a number of your liner that top row indicates that your patient id number, and on the second row you’ll see a u representing the upper tray or an l representing the lower tray. Also your aligner tray number just match those tray numbers to your liner bag and you’ll know which liner those are.

9. How do you keep your aligner safe and what do you do if you lose your aligners?

To keep them safe the number one thing you need to do is always keep your aligners in their case when you’re not wearing them; number two please do not wrap your liners in a napkin. Someone else may think it is garbage and throw it away; thirdly be careful around pets, your liners smell just like you and your pets love to chew them.

Every time you change to a new aligner, remember to keep your previous aligner. So if you ever need to order a replacement aligner, you’ll be wearing your previous aligner while you wait for it to arrive. So what happens if you lose your liner or there’s a break in your aligner, please call your orthodontist immediately and notify them of the problem.

10. What happens after your invisalign treatment?

At the end of your invisalign treatment you will be provided a set of retainers and it is recommend wearing your retainers nighttime for a lifetime.