Invisalign Instructions

• Wear your aligners for at least 22 hours per day.
• Don’t leave them out for more than 45 minutes at a time.
• Remove them only to eat and clean your teeth.
• Wear each set for one week before moving to the next set.

Wearing your aligners less than directed can keep your teeth from moving as planned.

When it’s time for a new set:

• Put the new aligners in right before bed.
• Mild soreness for 1 to 2 days is normal.
• Make sure the aligners fit closely around your teeth and attachments.

Most tooth movement happens during the first 6 to 8 hours after you put in a new set, so switching at night helps keep them in place during that period.

Eating

We don’t recommend eating with your aligners in unless you’ve been specifically instructed to do so for your treatment. Remove your aligners before eating.

Drinking

You can drink most beverages while wearing your aligners. Avoid:

• Black coffee
• Sugary drinks

If you drink either while wearing your aligners, rinse thoroughly with water afterward to help reduce staining and cavity risk.

Clean your teeth

Ideally, brush and floss after every meal before putting your aligners back in. If you can’t brush, rinse your mouth thoroughly. Aligners can trap bacteria against your teeth, which can increase your risk of cavities when oral hygiene is poor.

Clean your aligners every day

Soak your aligners in 1 part hydrogen peroxide + 1 part water. Other options include:

• Invisalign Cleaning Crystals
• Retainer or aligner cleaning products
• Ultrasonic cleaning devices

Keep your Invisalign case with you whenever you leave home. When you remove your aligners:

• Put them directly into the case.
• Don’t wrap them in a napkin. They can easily be thrown away by mistake.
• Keep them away from pets. Dogs and other pets can chew or destroy them.

If you’re more than 4 days into your current set

Move forward to your next set of aligners.

If you’re 3 days or fewer into your current set

Go back to your previous set. Always keep your previous aligners in their numbered bag. They can serve as a backup if your current or next set is lost, damaged, or doesn’t fit correctly.

Call our office right away if you lose or damage an aligner so we can tell you what to do next.

Attachments help your aligners move your teeth as planned.

If attachments come off

Call our office if more than 2 attachments come off. It’s normal for a few attachments to loosen during the first few weeks after your aligners are delivered.

If an attachment feels sharp

Attachments can feel unusual against your lips, cheeks, or tongue at first. This usually improves within a couple of weeks. You may use a nail file to gently smooth a sharp edge.

Check your attachments when you switch aligners

Each time you start a new set, compare your attachments with the cutouts in your aligners. The number of attachments in your mouth should match the number of attachment cutouts in your aligners.

Sometimes one arch finishes before the other. If your upper or lower teeth finish first:

• Wear the final aligner for that arch at night only.
• Keep progressing through the aligners for the unfinished arch as directed.

Example: if you have 10 upper aligners and 15 lower aligners, once you reach upper aligner #10, continue wearing it every night while progressing through lower aligners #11 through #15. During the day, wear only the lower aligner.

Call us if:

• There’s a visible gap between an aligner and your tooth.
• An aligner isn’t fitting snugly around your teeth.
• A tooth feels significantly loose.
• A tooth doesn’t seem to be moving.
• You have significant gum irritation.
• Something about your treatment feels noticeably wrong.

When you’re unsure, call us. We’d rather check than have you continue wearing an aligner that isn’t fitting correctly.

Your results depend on wearing your aligners as directed. If your aligners stop fitting correctly because they weren’t worn as instructed:

• Lotus Dental Studio will provide one re-scan and one replacement set of aligners at no charge.
• Any additional aligners needed after that will have a minimum fee of $1,000 to continue treatment.