Issaquah Teen Invisalign Treatment – How to Clean Invisalign Clear Aligners

Orthodontic treatment is an important aspect of dental care that can improve a patient’s smile’s health, function, and appearance. It’s important to talk about any dental issues related to misaligned teeth or jaw with an orthodontist to learn what treatment options are available to you.

Invisalign is a safe alternative to straighten your teeth. Although it’s somewhat new in the aligners market, it has proven effective and versatile. However, Invisalign clear aligners can’t offer a solution for every class of malocclusion or misalignment.

Can Invisalign treat teenage patients? Even kids can benefit from clear aligners. Despite being new, the brand has developed a trustworthy system to treat orthodontic patients successfully without braces.

Invisalign represents a game changer for orthodontic patients. Clear aligners are removable, transparent, discreet, and resistant; they do not require cemented brackets, food restrictions, or special tools to brush and floss. Apart from these differences, clear aligners and traditional braces both work by applying pressure to move the teeth.

Leaving cases of crooked or crowded teeth to solve naturally or unsolved is always a bad idea. Yes, teeth move naturally, but it does not imply that teeth align naturally as well. Most likely, any dental misalignment left unsolved will worsen over time.

Teeth straightening is often the cause of eliminating headaches, mandible pain, speech problems, gum disease, and tooth decay. A straight smile allows correct biting and chewing, prevent oral health issues, and contributes to facial symmetry.

You should never consider orthodontic treatment as a dispensable luxury because it’s part of your health care.

Why Is Dental Hygiene Important During Orthodontic Treatment?

Before starting straightening treatment, your dentist and orthodontist had to confirm your whole mouth was in a healthy state; this means no dental cavities, no gum infections, no loose teeth, and so on. To endure pressure and movement, your teeth need to be strong.

Attempting to change a decayed tooth’s position is risking fracture or tooth loss. The same happens with complex gum diseases such as periodontitis. Your gums help hold and protect your teeth and their roots. You could lose one or more teeth if they are not healthy.

If you can’t begin orthodontic treatment in these poor health conditions, of course, you will have to stop treatment if you develop periodontitis in the middle of it. Getting dental cavities or gum infections will most likely lengthen your treatment plan.

But can you prevent dental caries and periodontal disease by brushing and flossing your teeth? Absolutely yes. You must do it daily, though, and at least twice. The products you use to wash your teeth should contain fluoride to eliminate oral bacteria. All of this, plus regularly having professional dental cleanings, will keep your mouth safe.

By complying with a good oral hygiene routine, you reassure the treatment’s success and length. Not to mention that you take care of your overall health when you take care of your mouth.

How to Practice Dental Hygiene With Braces?

Distinct orthodontic appliances ask for distinct cleaning methods. Conventional metal braces, or even clear ceramic braces, require a little bit of extra work to achieve the ideal results. Because brackets are fixed and have archwires all across your teeth, brushing normally is not enough, and flossing can be hard.

Lucky for you, nowadays, you can rely on lots of specialized tools to conquer your purpose with ease. This is what interdental brushes and floss threaders do: make your life easier. Food debris and, therefore, bacteria can get into the crannies and spots between your braces and your teeth, so you will need to reach those spots too.

After brushing normally, you can have a second round now with an interdental brush to go behind the metal wires and all around each corner of the brackets. Then use a floss threader between your teeth and near your gum line. Passing a piece of dental floss behind your archwires is another effective solution.

Adding fluoride mouthwash to your dental hygiene routine will maximize your efforts to remove bacteria and reach even the last corner of your mouth. And it prevents bad breath!

Avoiding certain foods like chewy candy can also make your life a lot easier when the time to brush comes. Lesser food particles and a lesser risk of cavities.

Is Dental Hygiene Easier With Invisalign?

Truth be told: yes. This is one of the most attractive features of clear aligners next to discretion. Invisalign being removable means patients can brush and eat normally. Although you have to wear them almost all day long (20 to 22 hrs. a day), you can take them off whenever you want to grab a bite or sanitize your teeth.

No need for special tools to reach nooks or crannies. Nevertheless, some patients find it easier to floss with self-threaders and even recommend oral irrigators. Of course, you can’t skip the fluoride toothpaste and mouthwash.

You will have to add your Invisalign trays to the daily hygiene routine, though. Washing your clear aligners every day is mandatory to keep them disinfected and transparent. For this part, you need some special advice, so keep reading.

How to Clean Invisalign Aligners?

First of all, you have to know you ought to avoid toothpaste. Even when it seems like the logical option, toothpaste is, in fact, too abrasive for the acrylic your aligners are made of, and it could make them less transparent to eye perception.

Brushing is good and mandatory for your Invisalign trays, but you must do it with a soft-bristled-baby-like toothbrush for the same reason above. So, what products can you use to clean your Invisalign?

Invisalign offers specialized products for this purpose. There are different alternatives for you to find one that matches your routine and budget. The cleaning crystals are similar to the ones used to wash dentures and dental implants. You have to dissolve them in water and soak your aligners in that liquid for 15 minutes. After that, you have to rinse and brush.

Invisalign also offers a liquid soap that can fight dental plaque, oral bacteria, and odors. You will need to soak your clear aligners in water with the antibacterial soap but this time only for 3 to 5 minutes. Rising after is essential.

How to Clean Invisalign With Baking Soda?

What about household products in case of emergency? Good question. Some store products can be of great help if you can’t find any of the brand cleaners. The general recommendation is that you keep the science experiments and your creativity at a limit.

Baking soda and white vinegar are safe options for you and your aligners. Their first quality is that they are colorless, which is important to avoid any kind of stains on the acrylic material. Other qualities are their disinfecting power and their effectiveness against odors.

To use either of the two, you need to dissolve in water and soak the aligners in it for 15 to 20 minutes and then rinse with warm water. You can also apply the baking soda as a paste and gently brush (soft-bristled toothbrush) your Invisalign trays with it.

Find Your Orthodontist, Issaquah

Be ready to start your orthodontic treatment in Issaquah because it’s something you owe to yourself.

At Egger Orthodontics, Dr. Egger is a smile enthusiast with a DDS and an MSD in charge of examining your teeth.

This dental home located in Issaquah offers braces treatment as well as Invisalign for adults and teens.

Set an appointment and get to meet the team of experts!