I am happy to endure a lot in pursuit of my Hollywood smile, but one thing that I’m not prepared to suffer is bad breath. I have begged my husband to tell me if he smells even the slightest whiff, but honestly, I think he is too kind to bring it up. My daughters, however, are another story and would gleefully revel in letting me know, so it’s them I am relying on as an early warning system.
My orthodontist’s suggestions for caring for your aligners involved cleaning them with a soft toothbrush and water (but no toothpaste) and soaking them daily in a solution of 1/10 parts bleach and water. However, I am squeamish about chemicals, and more importantly I suffer from crohns disease, so the last thing I would ever do is put something in my mouth that might trigger a flare up of my illness. Not only that, I think the bleachy smell alone is enough to put me off- I don’t want to give myself excuses not to wear them.
Consequently, I have developed my own little cleaning system, and am happy to report that three weeks in, both sets of aligners have stayed crystal clear and odour free.
Firstly, and I think this is crucial, I don’t ever eat or drink anything except water whilst wearing my aligners. I am also absolutely fastidious about rinsing them under running water after I remove them from my mouth. Believe me, this is important -if you forget to do it by the time you come to reinsert them they are less than fragrant.
Secondly before I put them back in I do the full brush, floss, rinse routine, almost without exception. The only times I haven’t been able to do this because I have forgotten my toothbrush I have at least flushed my mouth thoroughly with water before putting them back in, and then taken them out and brushed as soon as I get the chance. I do notice when I do this that they have a very slight smell- personally, I don’t think it is ideal, even though my ortho’s assistant says she does it all the time.
Lastly, when I clean and floss for the last time at night I soak them in a denture bath![]()
(a small plastic tub) with water and a Polident![]()
tablet. This gives them a slight pinky tinge, which rinses off under running water, but definitely makes them seem fresher. I should point out that Invisalign expressly recommend against this, although it was suggested to me by my orthodontist’s assistant as the way she cleans hers.. I wouldn’t want to lead anyone astray…
Update:
useful links:
These are a couple of guides to keeping your Invisalign clean.
My orthodontist is 
>Wow, thanks for the tips. I’m definitely going to try that. ^^^ They have invisalign cleaning crystals, but they are way too expensive. I’m glad you haven’t had any color changes or bad odors. Thanks, again.
I really like reading ur blog.
>Ditto.
I really wish my dentist had provided more instructions regarding how to care for the trays. I’d be bit cautious about cleaning with bleach too and will check with my dentist about the steradent. The tip about rinsing them thoroughly has been helpful though!
Thanks and look forward to more updates!
STB or LT from the Braces review forums
This blog is great i am getting my invisilign in 1hour and have been reading all of you posts! i too have crohns so seems like we have loads in common!! jenn
That was the worst advice ever your doc gave to you lol. The best way to clean them is with a soft bristle brush & warm water, if you cant afford the crystal cleaners. If you can afford the invisalign iam very sure you can purchase cleaners. I was warned against other tablets because they make the aligners foggy and more noticeable. Hope you got that hollywood smile! PEACE
Hi June,
I have actually been using Polident for 2.5 years on my aligners, including on a set I wore for about 3 months. I’m happy to report that they aren’t cloudy or foggy at all, just as crystal clear as ever. I think some people like to sell you the crystals because they are more expensive. They aren’t necessary though.
i have the crystals but i dont know how do use it