Cleaning and taking care of your clear aligners during the orthodontic treatment is one of the daily rituals for our patients. A quick search in Google gives you lots of cleaning solutions. This could be overwhelming. Some of these solutions are optimized for aligners and some for cleaning retainers, mouth guards or dentures.
Dr. Rooz at Personalized Orthodontics offers two methods to maintain your PORTH aligners or invisalign trays. These strategies works with other aligners like Candid Co or Smile Direct Club aligners. Brushing and flossing regularly to maintain a high levels of oral hygiene is also equality important for your oral health and prevent bad breath or cavities during aligner treatment. You would like to avoid gum problems and cavities while straightening your teeth.
We recommend rinsing of your aligners multiple times during the day after having any sugary drinks or snacks. You want to carry a travel toothbrush to help you with the quick rinse and clean. A travel toothpaste could also be a good addition.
You also wants to do a thorough cleaning after meals to remove food particles, dental plaque, and saliva sticking to your trays. Patients often use a regular cup or a small size ultrasonice filled with the cleaning solution to clean invisalign or aligners. Denture cleaners are slightly abrasive so we encourage patients not to use them. Clean invisalign trays or clear aligners can easily last for 7 to 10 days without any discoloration and bad smell.
Steraligner cleaning solution
Steraligner is a solution that is designed to clean aligners and retainers. The company provide multiple forms of this solution. Sterasmile is a foam version of this product for to go.
Brite is a tablet that you have to dissolve in lukewarm water to clean invisalign or other aligners.
Obviously, you can follow other methods to keep your aligners clean. Antibacterial soap diluted in lukewarm water, Invisalign cleaning crystals, a hydrogen peroxide dilution in cold water, baking soda in warm water, or mouthwash are examples of these alternative option. We encourage you to research these options and follow the instruction provided by companies that offer these.
Align technology, the company that manufacture invisalign aligners, offers the invisalign cleaning system which is very similar to our recommended methods to clean aligners. You might want to know that this is an expensive alternative.
You want to avoid cleaning your aligners with hotwater since it can damage the plastic and change its shape. Also, don’t leave your aligners outside of their case especially if you have a pet dog who is most likely in love with chewing invisible aligners.
Talk to your orthodontist about how to clean your aligners. She might have other solutions.
We recommend to clean your clear aligners every time when you remove your aligners to eat or drink. It doesn’t have to be a perfect clean a thorough rinse with a run of a travel toothbrush is good.
We don’t recommend teeth whitening while you are in aligner treatment unless your treatment doesn’t need attachments. The bumps on your teeth can cause different color of your teeth if you whiten your teeth during the treatment.
Yes for the quick cleaning but not ideal for the daily deep cleaning of your aligners.