Clear Aligners and Oral Hygiene: What Are The Tips For Proper Care?

Teeth alignment issues such as overcrowded and crooked teeth or malocclusions can detrimentally affect your smile and oral health. That’s why individuals with such dental issues visit our dentist near you, looking for orthodontic treatment options to improve their smiles and oral health.

Dental braces are one of the most common appliances to realign teeth. Most people do not fancy how traditional metal braces look. Traditional metal braces are effective but bulky and aesthetically not pleasing. Most adults and teenagers have difficulty accepting metal braces and will only agree to this treatment option if it is the only viable option for their dental issues.

This is where clear aligners come in. They have revolutionized orthodontic treatment, providing patients with an inconspicuous, aesthetically pleasing, affordable, and effective option. Our clear aligner in Clearwater, FL, can gradually apply pressure on a patient’s teeth, shifting them to their desired positions.

The clear aligners are customized and come in a set, with each aligner within the series designed to be worn for a specified period.

To get the best results from this treatment, you must take excellent care of all your sets of clear aligners. One of the ways to take care of your clear aligners and ensure that the treatment plan works is to carry out proper oral hygiene.

Poor oral hygiene can impede treatment progress and introduce dental health issues that cost you more time and money. Let’s look at some of the proper care tips you can comply with and ensure you get the optimum results during clear aligner therapy.

Tips For The Proper Care of Clear Aligners

Here are some of the guidelines you can follow to ensure that your clear aligners stay in good condition, function as they should, and keep dental health issues at bay;

• Brush and Floss Your Teeth 

Clear aligners can be removed during oral hygiene sessions and meals. This is a convenient advantage that draws people to the treatment option. When brushing and flossing, removing your clear aligner in Clearwater, FL, ensures you can practice oral hygiene like normal.

Brush your teeth gently twice a day and floss at least once daily to keep dental health issues such as decay, gum disease, staining, and cavities at bay. Brushing your teeth after your snack or meal and before putting your clear aligner back on is advisable.

You can use a travel-size toothbrush and some toothpaste when on the move to brush your teeth every time before putting on your clear aligner, particularly after a meal, snack, or drink.

This ensures that bacteria and plaque will not get a chance to accumulate and cause dental issues that will affect the progress of your treatment or negatively impact your oral health.

• Carefully Rinse Out Your Aligners Before Putting Them Back On

Rinse your clear aligners before placing them back on to ensure they stay fresh and clean. This will help reduce the bacteria buildup within the trays whenever you have them on. Failing to rinse your aligners can expose you to dental infections and gum disease risk, impeding your treatment.

• Do Not Rinse Your Clear Aligners With Hot or Ice-Cold Water

Clear aligners are fabricated from a transparent clear plastic material. This plastic material can contract and expand when exposed to extreme temperature variations, and this can cause them to get deformed or destroyed. This is why it is recommended that you use lukewarm water when rinsing your aligner or a cleaning solution that our dentist near you can recommend.

• Brush Your Aligners, But Not Using Toothpaste

You need to also brush and clean your aligners before storing them. Our dentist will issue you special cleaning kits to help you clean your clear aligners properly. Brush your clear aligners gently. Refrain from brushing them with toothpaste because it is abrasive and can damage your aligners, causing them to have streaks and fissures that can act as accumulation zones for bacteria.

• Your Aligners Should be Stored In a Designated Case

Our clear aligners should not be left lying outside in the open. They can pick up bacteria and germs that compromise your health and treatment progress. It would be best if you stored them in a case where they will stay clean, safe, and dry till the next time you need to wear them.

• Soak Your Aligners At Least Once Every Day

It would be best to soak your aligners once daily in a denture cleaner or any other recommended solution to remove bacteria and thoroughly clean them before putting them back on.

Clear aligners are an effective yet affordable teeth straightening option. Contact us today at Sunset Point Dental for your customized clear aligner orthodontic treatment.