The Best Eating Habits to Develop While Wearing Invisalign

The significant downside of wearing braces is that they cannot be removed at your convenience, which means you will be unable to eat whatever you want. On the other hand, Invisalign is not only aesthetically beautiful, but they are removable.

The beauty of using Invisalign is that it straightens your teeth without limiting your diet. In other words, you do not have to worry about food getting stuck like in braces.

Although the removable quality of the Invisalign is a plus, it can become a tedious process, and if you are not careful, your treatment will not go according to plan.

However, you have to develop certain eating habits that can accommodate the aligners. In the end, you will have a beautiful smile and still enjoy your favorite meals.

• Tone Down the Morning Coffee

If you are the type of person, who needs coffee to fully wake up or get the day started, you do not need to stop the habit. Take your cup of coffee with your breakfast. The problem comes in when you try to take coffee all through the day with your aligners still on.

The aligners and your teeth will eventually become stained. As a substitute, you will have to take water more often because it is the best beverage you can have will wearing the aligners.

Avoid all sugary beverages because they will have the same effect as the coffee, and they can also cause cavities on your teeth.

• Brush More Often

You will have to brush more often than you are used to when you are wearing aligners. You need to wear your aligners on clean teeth. After every meal or snack, you have to brush your teeth. If you go to work or school, you will need to carry travel toothbrushes to use throughout the day.

It beats the purpose if you have aligned teeth that have cavities, so keep the aligners and your teeth clean before you wear them.

• Mind the Hours

For the aligners to accomplish their purpose, they need to be worn 20 to 22 hours each day, which means you have to pick up the pace when you are taking your meals.

If you need that extra blood sugar in the mid-morning or you need to unwind after hours by taking a glass of wine, you can go right ahead. But when you do, you have to time yourself lest you fall short and do not hit at least the 20-hour mark per day.

• No More Gum

Gum is not your friend when you are wearing Invisalign. Gum can damage orthodontic treatment because of its stickiness. It can also be destroyed because of the constant chewing.

• Reduce Snacking

Most people will not notice that you have aligners in your mouth, but they are constant in your mouth. This means that you have to be mindful of what you put in your mouth. Snacks are readily available, and you can be tempted to have some, but you have to ask yourself if you are ready to take them out, then brush before wearing them again.

• Don’t Eat with Your Aligners

Eating with aligners in your mouth is not advisable. Though there is a list of foods that are soft that can be relatively kind to the orthodontic treatment. Foods like eggs, pasta, or yogurt can ease the discomfort while eating with aligners.

The problem is that if you get accustomed to eating with aligners or even the softer foods, you might crack or also damage them. It is wise to avoid consuming all foods altogether while wearing the aligners because in the off chance that they break the pieces can be a choking hazard.

• Additional Tips

It would be best if you strived to eat foods that are rich in calcium and vitamin D to help make your teeth healthier. Here is a list of foods that are good while you use aligners:

• Leafy Greens
• Carrots
• Apples
• Yogurt
• Cheese

You should know that toothpaste is great for your teeth but bad for your aligners. Toothpaste will discolor them or even damage them. They might also become dull and make them noticeable while you are wearing them.

If you need more information about aligners, contact Dr. Trejos at Palm Coast Family Dentistry, who is ready to transform your smile.