The forecast for your smile looks bright when you start your WonderSmile home teeth straightening treatment this season! WonderSmile clear aligners are a kind of orthodontic treatment using nearly invisible aligners, designed to gently move your teeth to a more esthetic, balanced alignment, all without any office visits.
Today’s blog will discuss important ways to ensure your aligner treatment moves along smoothly, according to the plan created by our orthodontists.
What does home teeth straightening involve?
Clear aligner treatment involves wearing a sequence of aligners, for 20+ hrs of daily wear (wearing all the time except for eating, drinking anything but water and brushing your teeth) over a 2-week period. This is the time required to safely and predictably move your teeth based on the biology of tooth movement. After 2 weeks per stage of All-Day aligner wear, you are ready to proceed to the next aligner. You can read more about how and why aligners work in my previous post here.
Can I speed up my teeth aligner treatment?
No. We don't recommend it.
While it might be tempting to try to speed things up by shortcutting the hours or days required, it is never advised to do so. Inadequate aligner wear time can lead to your next pair of aligners fitting poorly. A poor aligner fit means that there are gaps between the aligner plastic and your teeth. This problem magnifies with each successive aligner stage and will result in poor results. So, stick with the dental aligner program prescribed by my team of orthodontists!
What should I do if my aligners aren’t fitting well?
Try the chewie first.
If your dental aligner isn’t fitting well, you can try using the “Chewies” that come in your teeth aligner kit. Chewies are removable, rubbery, tube-shaped objects. Chewies use your chewing forces to stretch the aligner plastic onto your teeth, in the effort to get your teeth to “catch up” to the aligner’s programmed teeth positions. If an aligner isn’t fitting well after over 2 weeks of All-Day aligner wear time and Chewie use, try going back to the prior aligner stage and verify that this aligner fits well. Typically, there is a fit issue with this prior aligner that wasn’t resolved with enough wear. Once you get the prior aligner fitting well (by wearing it enough), try the next stage. This should get you back on track. In the unlikely event this doesn’t work, contact the customer care team at WonderSmile and we’ll help you resolve it.
What can I eat with clear aligners?
Whatever you want.
One of the great features of wearing clear aligners is the freedom to eat anything you like without the worry of breaking braces! To support healthy tooth movement, it’s important to eat a nutritionally balanced diet, with adequate calcium and vitamin D. Also, don’t forget to brush your teeth and aligners after eating, to protect against enamel erosion and decay.
How to remember when to change your aligners
It's easy.
To help you keep track of when you should change aligners, WonderSmile has a customer dashboard where you can keep track of your treatment and see when you need to change to a new stage. Or you can create a repeating calendar event reminder on your phone.
Keeping your aligners safe
Your aligner case is key.
Since clear aligners are transparent, it’s easy to lose them if you set them down on a table or wrap them in a tissue or napkin. So to avoid loss or damage to your aligners, use the carrying case we provide. As I often say to my patients, “if it’s not in your face, it’s in your case!”
What time of day should I change my aligners?
In the evening.
Each time you switch to your next aligner, it’s normal for it to feel snug, and may produce some mild discomfort as it starts to move your teeth. That’s why we recommend changing to your next aligner stage in the evening, before going to sleep. While asleep you will not be aware of this discomfort and this will reduce the discomfort felt during your waking hours. You can read more about how to make your aligners more comfortable in my post here.
How to take care of my clear aligners?
Brush with a clean toothbrush.
Keeping your aligners clean is essential to preventing tooth decay or enamel erosion during aligner wear. To clean your aligners, simply brush them thoroughly with a clean toothbrush and mild liquid soap then rinse with cool or warm water. Avoid hot water which could melt or distort the plastic aligner material. Likewise, keep your aligners away from any hot areas like the dashboard of your car during summertime, or the stove in your kitchen!
Staying consistent with your wear schedule and observing a few simple recommendations will reward you with a fantastic smile in only a few months.
Take the next step
To see if you're a candidate for our home teeth straightening kit you can take the FREE online assessment designed by our team of orthodontists. It only takes a minute.
Written by Dr. Richard Schechtman, Head Orthodontist at WonderSmile.