With your Invisalign treatment well underway this season, celebrating may look and feel a little different. That’s because with aligners, you’ll need to make some temporary lifestyle changes for the duration of your treatment. But don’t let these modifications stop you from enjoying yourself. Here are four important things to remember about wearing Invisalign during the holidays that will help you enjoy the festivities without hurting your progress.
Keep Time
With Invisalign, it’s important to wear your aligners for 22 hours each day. This includes holidays, so be sure to follow the same guidelines for eating and cleaning your teeth and gums that you do on any other day. Limit snacking and be sure to leave enough time to brush and floss your teeth before your aligners need to go back on. If you need help managing your time, there are several apps available in most smartphone app stores that can assist you.
Don’t Lose It
The holidays can be stressful and with a flourish of activity from visitors and traveling, it can be easy to misplace things like your aligners. To help keep track of them, be sure to keep them in their storage case so they don’t get dirty when you take them off, and so they don’t get accidentally misplaced or thrown away.
Keep it Clean
It’s important to keep your teeth and gums clean when wearing Invisalign. This will help prevent bad breath and cavities, and your aligners from looking dirty. Thus, be sure to brush and floss each time you eat and brush each time you drink anything other than water.
Take Them Out
Finally, it may seem less of a hassle to go ahead and try sipping that hot cocoa or eggnog with your aligners in, but this is a bad idea. For starters, this can allow bits of food or liquid to get caught between your teeth and your aligners. This can damage your teeth and gums as well as make your aligners dingy. Worse yet, if you drink anything too hot while wearing them, you can permanently damage them, so do yourself a favor and make sure you take them out every time you eat anything besides cold or room-temperature water.
Don’t let the hustle and bustle of the holidays stand in the way of progressing on your Invisalign journey. Be sure to stay on plan to the best of your ability to keep your teeth and gums healthy and your orthodontic treatment on track all year long!
About Dr. Palmer
Dr. Sienna Palmer is one of those dentists who possesses a keen eye for detail, making her the perfect choice for an Invisalign provider. If you’re unhappy with the alignment of your smile, let Dr. Palmer and the team at Palm Dentistry help customize a treatment plan that will achieve all your oral health goals and reveal that gorgeous grin you’re meant to showcase.
To schedule a consultation for Invisalign, please visit our website or call us today at 949-365-0951.