How To Care For Your Spark and Invisalign Aligners: The Do’s & Don’t’s

Aligners are designed to fit your life while transforming your beautiful smile. Keep eating the foods you love, playing sports and go about your day, while your nearly invisible aligners do their work, with no interruption to your lifestyle.

Clear aligners are easy to care for – although they can’t clean themselves or run away from curious dogs who love to chew…..yet.

Until that happens, there are a few things you need to make sure you are doing, to best care for your Invisalign aligners.

Do:

Wear your aligners for 20-22 hours a day

Only remove your aligners to eat, brush, to drink anything other than water and to clean them. If you play contact sports for extended periods of time, please let us know so that we can offer you personalised advice.

Clean your aligners morning and night

Whenever you brush your teeth, use a gentle toothbrush and toothpaste to thoroughly clean your aligners.

If you are out and about during the day or it is too difficult at school, we do not expect you to carry your brush with you. All you need to do is rinse your mouth with water and use the provided sanitising spray on your aligners. This will kill up to 99.9% of bacteria and leave you with a fresh spearmint taste (No need to rinse prior to putting your aligners back in).

Use the right products for a deeper clean

Although you will be changing your aligners every 7-14 days, you may feel you want to give your aligners a deeper clean.

You can do this, by either soaking your aligners in white vinegar for 15 minutes or with a denture cleaning tablet adding a couple of drops of hydrogen peroxide.

Keep away from dogs

When your aligners are not in your mouth, keep them in your case and in an out-of-reach place. Your fury friend will love your aligners as a chew toy.

Don’t

Use hot water or a dishwasher

Rinse your aligners in lukewarm water only. High temperatures can warp the aligners and damage them.

Soak in mouthwash

Some mouthwashes can be harsh on aligners. Do not be tempted to soak your aligners in a glass of mouthwash, as this can cause discolouration.

Use coloured soaps

Soaps with no colour can be used to clean your aligners. However coloured soap should be avoided, in case your aligners absorb the colour, leaving you with a tinted smile.

Wrap them in a tissue or serviette

When your aligners are not in your mouth, they need to be in their case. If they are wrapped in a tissue or serviette, they are too easy to throw out. If you have lost your aligner case, please ask us for a replacement one.