Maintenance After Invisalign

So the big day has finally come, you’ve managed to finish your last Invisalign tray, and you have the smile you’ve always dreamed of.  The big question now is “What Can I Do To Ensure That It STAYS perfect?”. If you were one of those who never stopped to consider this while going through the Invisalign process, it’s bound to come as a bit of a shock that you have to work to maintain that smile once it’s gotten perfect. 

Enter: The Retainer
No, this isn’t a handsome henchman who will follow you around and do your bidding; instead, it’s an additional piece of hardware that you’ll wear to ensure that your hard-earned smile stays straight and beautiful for a lifetime.  If you aren’t wearing a retainer, you can bet that your once gangly smile is going to slowly return as your teeth shift back into position. Thankfully you have a number of options available when it comes to retainers.

A Multitude Of Options
Invisalign retainers come in a broad range of colors, sizes, shapes, and metals to ensure that you can wear something that you like, even if you don’t like wearing them.  Unlike the slow, somewhat uncomfortable, Invisalign process these will be correctly made to fit your teeth, so they’re not painful or wearisome to wear.

Vivera
These retainers are one of the most popular and are offered by many providers, in part due to the fact that they’re transparent and nearly invisible while being durable.  They do require a significant amount of cleaning to ensure that they remain invisible, but they’re definitely worth the effort if you’re concerned about your retainer being noticed.

When Can I Stop Wearing My Retainer?
Unfortunately, you’ll never really be free of your retainer. Instead, you’ll have a reduced amount of time you’ll be expected to be wearing them.  This starts at about six months when you get to start taking them off at night. Don’t make the mistake of thinking this means they aren’t important if you stop wearing them during the day you’re just going to be backsliding towards the smile you started with.

What really happens at this stage is that you stop wearing it quite as often, reducing the number of nights you need to wear it to two or three nights a week, and the rest of the time being retainer free.  This sounds amazing, and after months of wearing trays and retainers all the time, it certainly is! Unfortunately, you have to be extremely careful to make sure you wear it religiously those few nights of the week that’s required, or you’ll be starting the process all over again.

If you’ve been considering an Invisalign treatment or have just finished your trays, then it’s time for an appointment with your dentist.  We suggest picking up the phone and making an appointment with Dr. Adeole Faleye, an orthodontics expert who’s been helping patients like you live a life with a perfect smile free from braces.  Don’t let your new perfect smile slide back to where you started, make an appointment for a consultation today!