5 Tips on Meeting Invisalign’s 22-Hour Wear Time

You probably know how convenient Invisalign is as a teeth-straightening procedure. By wearing nearly-invisible aligners for a year, you can get the aligned smile you’ve always wanted! However, wearing your trays long enough each day might be challenging. After all, successful treatment depends on having them in your mouth 22 hours a day! That said, you’ll need to keep track of the aligners if you want a new smile anytime soon. Luckily, some things can help you do that. To learn more, here are five tips to improve your Invisalign wear time from Vienna dentists.

“Why Do I Need to Wear the Trays 22 Hours a Day?”

If you don’t wear your trays for the necessary 22 hours, chances are that you’ll end up delaying or complicating treatment. Invisalign aligners nudge teeth through micro-movements, meaning they need to be in contact with your pearly whites to move them. Naturally, then, short wear times result in longer and longer treatments. In fact, they can even allow your teeth to move back to their crooked positions.

Five Tips for Meeting the 22-Hour Mark

If you practice the right tips and habits, keeping your trays in for 22 hours each day shouldn’t be too hard. Therefore, try out the ones below to see significant improvements:

• Make Your Trays Part of Daily Oral Care: Every time you brush, floss, or rinse, re-insert your trays. Eventually, you’ll make it a habit and put them back in after each teeth-cleaning.
• Only Remove Them at Meal-Times: When it comes to meals, take out your trays for 15 minutes at breakfast, 30 minutes at lunch, and 60 minutes at dinner. This practice will give you enough time for the occasional snack and your oral hygiene routine.
• Don’t Use Your Phone While Eating: This could distract you from putting your aligners back in after a meal.
• Save Time by Multi-Tasking: While your trays are out during your meal, place them in a glass of water with cleaning crystals. That way, they’ll be ready to go back in your mouth right when you finish.
• Switch to New Trays Right Before Bed: This practice will lower your discomfort since you’ll be asleep during the straightening. That way, you won’t be tempted to take your aligners out.

While meeting your Invisalign wear time in Vienna may require some changes to some routines, it’s easily achievable with suggestions like those above. For more ideas and help, feel free to talk to your local dentist.

About the Practice

Pace Dental is based in Vienna, VA. Though now led by Dr. Ahmed Saad, the practice continues its long tradition of giving patients relaxed and personalized treatment. Staff can perform preventive, cosmetic, and restorative dentistry, not to mention emergency dental services. The clinic is also a certified provider of Invisalign orthodontics. For more information or to book an appointment, you can reach them at their website or by phone at (703)-938-6800.