steradent – My Invisalign Blog

I thought it might be interesting to keep a diary for a single day of my braces; how often I remove them, number of times I floss, brush etc. Of course, having written it I can see that it really isn’t that interesting at all- yes, my life really is this boring!

However, it might be useful for people considering braces to see what it’s like to wear Invisalign – how often you have to remove them etc. It has also been useful to me, in showing me that I am really not achieving the twenty two hours a day wear that I should. I would love to tell you that ordinarily I am much more compliant but the sad truth is I think this is probably fairly indicative of the amount of hours that I manage to wear these things. Must do better…..

What It's Like to Wear Invisalign - clock

What It’s Like To Wear Invisalign – A Day In the Life

6am Alarm, get up and shower. Braces stay in.
6.30 Go downstairs. Remove Invisalign and toss them on the kitchen bench on paper towel-yick! Have breakfast then spend 40 minutes chivvying children and brushing hair.
7.30 Children leave for school and husband and I grab a quick coffee on our back deck.
7.50 Brush teeth, floss and give braces quick clean before putting them back in. Yikes. 1 hr 20 minutes out. I think I would have convinced myself it was about 30 minutes if I hadn’t checked.
8.10 Check emails and do some work on my computer.
9.15 Get peckish and remember box of Cadbury’s Favourites in the pantry. Braces out and on the kitchen bench (new paper towel!)
10.15 Box of chocolates almost finished and braces still out. Realise and panic. Dash upstairs to brush/floss and put braces back in. Another hour. Whoops. Total time out so far 2hrs 20 minutes
10.40 Glass of water- Aligners can stay in.Yay!
12.20 Lunchtime. Sandwich, crackers and a banana. Eat it on my deck in front of my laptop. Brush, but don’t floss.
12.37 Aligners back in. Total time out so far 2 hrs 37 minutes
4.00 Arrive home from kids after school activities. Remove aligners and throw them on the kitchen bench. Grab a snack.
4.24 Realise aligners still out, swear loudly, do rudimentary brush and throw them back in. Total time out of mouth 3 hrs 1 minute. Gulp
5.54 Husband arrives home and I serve dinner. Take aligners out- you guessed it, paper towel on the kitchen bench. Eat dinner fast as have to go out.
6.27 Brush and put aligners back in. Total time out. 3 hrs 35 minutes
What It’s Like To Wear Invisalign – A Quick Stop For Champagne
9.00 Out watching Midsummer Night’s Dream. Grab a glass of champagne in the interval. Hide in a corner of the room and remove my aligners. Put them in case in my handbag.
9.15 Queue for the toilets too long so can’t brush or would miss second act. Put aligners back in. Total time out of mouth 3 hrs 50 minutes.
10.45 At home. Take aligners out and put them in Steradent solution whilst I brush and floss.
10.52 Aligners back in. Go to Bed. Total time out of mouth during whole day. 3 hours 57 minutes.

As a quick summary what I can see is that I brushed 6 times during the day but only flossed 3 times. Whoops. That my aligners were in my mouth for 20 hours and 10 minutes. Just. Also that I really, really need to wear my aligners more. But you knew that already.

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. Nonetheless I’m absolutely pedantic about keeping my aligners clean and have scoured the internet for tips on cleaning Invisalign.

Cleaning Invisalign – Use A Soft Toothbrush

My orthodontist’s suggestions for cleaning Invisalign 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 Crohn’s 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 Invisalign 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.

Cleaning Invisalign – Never eat or drink anything other than water whilst wearing Invisalign

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. As well as brushing and flossing my teeth I also give the aligners a quick going over with the toothbrush before I re-insert them. There’s nothing worse than not cleaning Invisalign before you put them in your mouth. I have read of people using pre-pasted disposable toothbrushes for when they are out and about. I haven’t tried them, but you can find them here.

Cleaning Invisalign – Regularly use a cleaning product like steradent or polident to keep your aligners clean.

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…

My Invisalign Blog

My Invisalign Braces Experience

What It’s Like To Wear Invisalign Braces- A day In The life

Cleaning Invisalign Aligners