It's important to take good care of your clear braces while they're working hard to straighten your teeth. Check out some little ways to make a big difference when caring for your aligners!
Eating and Drinking with Your Aligners
One of the key steps to make sure your trays stay transparent and clean is by taking them out before eating or drinking anything other than cold water. Something we all know is that liquids like coffee and red wine can stain your teeth, and this goes for clear braces too!
Leaving your aligners in during a morning cuppa may seem like a great way to ensure you get your 22 hours of wear, but by doing so you risk permanently discolouring your clear braces and possibly even distorting them with the hot liquid. This may also impact the whiteness of your teeth, as the fitted trays may trap the coffee around your teeth potentially speeding up the yellowing process.
Removing Your Clear Braces
Here's a helpful tip to keep your trays feeling fresh! Whenever you take out your aligners to eat, drink, or brush, give them a quick rinse under the tap to wash off any plaque or saliva build up that may be lurking in the tray.
To store them, use a clean glass or your very own ClearCorrect aligner case to ensure they don't come into contact with any outside bacteria. As convenient as it may be, avoid using a napkin whilst taking them out to eat; you wouldn't want anyone to mistake them for rubbish and put them in the bin!
When popping your clear braces back in, give your teeth a quick brush to keep them squeaky clean: This helps keep food particles out of your trays, which will keep them fresher longer.
Deep Cleaning Your Trays
Besides giving them a quick scrub in the morning with water and a clean toothbrush, the best way to get that fresh "just out of the box" feeling, is to give your clear aligners a bath!
Use a retainer cleaning tablet as recommended by your dentist (you'll get some in your {my}smile Oral Care Pack when you start your treatment), and pop into a glass of warm tap water along with your aligners while you have a snack, and leave them to clean themselves for 15 minutes. And after a rinse under the tap, they're cleaner than ever!
A brace bath once or twice a week is the best way to ensure that your clear braces are clean, cared for, and ready to do all the heavy lifting of straightening your teeth.
Ready for your clear aligners?
If you’re at the start of your teeth straightening journey and want to find out more speak to our team, book now video chat or phone call. They’ll be able to chat to you about clear braces, answer your questions and book you in for a free* consultation with an experienced dentist at your local {my}dentist practice.
*For consultations in practice, a £7 COVID safety supplement will be chargeable to cover the increased costs of PPE during this time