Surviving Your First Week With Invisalign
Congratulations on starting your orthodontic treatment with a set of Invisalign clear aligners Alpharetta! We know it took much research, careful consideration, and courage to start your orthodontic treatment. However, we understand if you’re concerned about what those first few days with the appliance will feel like. Will there be any pain with your aligner trays? Is there any getting used to Invisalign?
Understanding how this appliance works is pretty straightforward. You wear your aligner trays for several hours every day, and they push your teeth into a new position. Besides, you can take the trays off when you go grab a bite or brush your teeth.
Still, as with any other orthodontic treatment, the movements required for the success of your dental realignment might cause some level of discomfort. We want to offer our readers a few tips and tricks for Invisalign to continue making your journey toward a beautiful and radiant smile as smooth as possible.
We don’t want any of our patients to suffer from dental health problems, so maintaining good oral hygiene habits is crucial. Likewise, we want to describe how you’ll be feeling during your first few days with the appliance. Let’s review together how to survive Invisalign during your first week of ortho.
What to Expect From Your First Day With Invisalign
The list is pretty short:
- You will feel your aligners are too tight.
- Your teeth will feel a bit sore.
- You will feel you salivate much more than usual.
- Your bite will feel weird as there is an additional layer between your teeth.
- Placing the trays over your teeth is very awkward.
Don’t worry; we’re here to help.
Does Invisalign Hurt?
No, Invisalign trays should not hurt. Alpharetta Orthodontic treatment requires your teeth to move around, and the only way to achieve this is to dissolve your jawbone and gradually shift your teeth’ position.
Don’t worry, though; this is perfectly safe. As an experienced orthodontist, Dr. Nima knows how to develop a treatment plan customized to your goals and needs.
All patients should still expect a degree of discomfort and pain as a result of the forces applied by the Invisalign aligner trays. Having the right state of mind will help you prepare for the way you’ll feel following an adjustment or change of aligner trays.
How to Deal With Invisalign Pain and Discomfort
As we’ve mentioned, you should expect some degree of discomfort when you first put on your set of clear aligner trays. Since they’re custom-made, your trays won’t cause any harm, but make sure to talk with your orthodontist or another physician about pain medication.
We remind our patients they can take over-the-counter medications to help with pain and discomfort. Perhaps you could take some Ibuprofen or acetaminophen from your local drugstore. The short-term nature of this fix for pain with Invisalign during your first days with the appliance is safe for almost everyone.
You can also practice chewing exercises or use styrofoam chewies to help ease the pain. The act of chewing helps to stimulate blood flow to your mouth. Blood flow acts as a natural pain reliever, which can be a safe way to help ease your discomfort. Styrofoam chewies are a great way to get that chewing motion in, but they can be awkward to chew on while in public.
You can also suck on ice cubes to numb the area that’s most affected by Invisalign pain. Some patients like this approach because they don’t even have to remove their Invisalign trays.
Finally, you could try saltwater mouth rinses to help with any mouth sores caused by the friction between your aligner trays and your gums or tongue.
What Is More Painful, Braces or Invisalign?
Generally speaking, Alpharetta Invisalign is not as painful as braces. However, you have to consider you will be switching from your previous set of clear aligner trays to a new one about every two weeks. You will feel a bit of soreness during the first couple of days with each set of aligners, but it should go away pretty soon.
Following an adjustment, you will feel your teeth hurt with braces, but you won’t require adjustments so often. Make sure you ask your Alpharetta orthodontist exactly what to expect from any treatment option.
Getting Used to the First Week of Invisalign
The team at Newpark Orthodontics is not expecting you to acclimate to the process of wearing orthodontic appliances overnight. Besides, there are chances you get to remove the aligners. Let’s go over a few tips and tricks.
It’s not just the pain and soreness of your teeth and cheek insides. Freshly made plastic aligners can potentially have sharp or jagged edges. It is common to get irritation or sores in the mouth with fresh aligners.
Eventually, throughout the journey, your mouth will toughen up. In the meantime, you can use dental wax to help aid those problem areas that bother you, or you can have your orthodontist file the trays down so that they are more comfortable.
It is also a good idea to use a peroxide-based mouthwash. This type of mouthwash has a formula that helps heal minor irritations and provides pain relief for your teeth and gums.
Track Your Wear Time
It will feel awkward trying to adjust your Invisalign to your lifestyle. However, please remember that, according to the official Invisalign FAQ, you have to wear the trays 22 hours a day, but they still have to be removed every time you have to eat.
Your three meals a day should not exceed two hours, but people can be forgetful while adjusting. It can be beneficial to take your Invisalign with you when you eat, so that way, they are on hand, and you are less likely to forget to put them back in. Still, please remember to avoid putting away your aligners wrapped in a napkin in the food courts, as that is how most people lose their aligners.
If remembering to put them back in is tricky for you at first, there are apps available that help with reminders for you.
Practice Talking With Invisalign
Yes. Your speech will change with your Invisalign clear aligners. The thing here is that you’ve spent most, if not all of your life, talking normally and relying only on the interaction between your teeth, tongue, and lips to talk.
All of a sudden, you’re throwing plastic trays into the mix, and your body will take some time to adjust.
One of the first things any patient might notice when they start wearing their Invisalign aligners is a lisp. Yes, Invisalign can cause a lisp. However, you shouldn’t panic, as the adjustment period shouldn’t be so long. You can overcome speech difficulties with your aligners by practicing your speaking in private and having someone you trust to engage in conversation with you frequently.
Practice Proper Cleaning
By now, you should know how to care for your teeth properly. However, you may not fully understand how to clean your trays properly.
The first and most common mistake patients make is that they use one toothbrush to clean both their trays and their teeth. Aligners need a soft-bristled brush that won’t be too abrasive or damaging.
Also, using two toothbrushes minimizes the risk of staining your aligners with leftover teeth-whitening toothpaste.
When cleaning your trays, you should not use teeth-whitening toothpaste. That toothpaste can leave a film on your aligners and make them appear cloudy and dull. You can still use teeth-whitening toothpaste for your teeth, though! Also, it is a good idea to soak your trays in a clear aligner soaking solution. This solution helps to clean your aligners thoroughly.
Remember that our objective here is to prevent any situations that may lead to the development of harmful bacteria that weaken your mouth, teeth, and gums until your teeth are in danger of falling off.
Hopefully, you won’t feel any lingering or throbbing pain during your Alpharetta ortho treatment. Similarly, we want to ensure you don’t feel any pain caused by periodontal disease, so please check out this other article about keeping your Invisalign and retainers clean.
Make a Travel Kit
You are always going to be on the go because we know you chose Invisalign considering their practicality and how they would fit in with your daily routine.
It is important to have a kit ready so that way you can maintain your Invisalign care everywhere you go. The first essential item to get is a travel case for your aligners.
This case allows you to take your Alpharetta aligners everywhere you go and safely store them when they are not in use. The next step is to create a small travel kit to take with you while you are out and about. This travel kit should consist of a toothbrush, toothpaste, floss, and aligner case.
Keep Your Eyes on the Price
Beautiful smiles don’t happen overnight. Achieving your desired results will require commitment and patience, which is why we remind all patients that this initial discomfort will go away pretty quickly, but remains an unavoidable part of the process.
Believe us when we say the results are well worth the effort.
The Best Orthodontist in Alpharetta Recommends…
Surviving your first week with Invisalign doesn’t have to be too complicated. Remember to establish a personal routine that you can maintain. These tips and tricks we listed for you are easy to incorporate into your lifestyle and can also help you have a smoother transition to your teeth correction process.
Cleanliness during your Invisalign journey is important for your oral health. If you have questions regarding your oral hygiene practices, please do not hesitate to reach out to us. If you are ready to schedule your next appointment, you can visit our Newpark Orthodontics website. We look forward to seeing you.
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