Clear aligner treatment succeeds or fails on daily habits. The trays themselves do the work, but only if they are worn enough, kept clean, and not damaged. This is the practical routine your dentist at Parkway Dental will ask you to follow.
Cleaning your aligners
Rinse your aligners every time you take them out, before bacteria and saliva dry onto them. Brush them gently with a soft toothbrush and cool or lukewarm water.
Never use hot water. Aligners are thermoplastic, and heat distorts them permanently — a warped tray no longer fits and cannot move your teeth correctly. For the same reason, never put them in a dishwasher, leave them in a hot car, or try to sterilise them by boiling.
Avoid coloured or strongly scented toothpaste on the trays; many are abrasive and create micro-scratches that make the plastic cloudy and more prone to staining. Plain water and a soft brush, or a cleaning product recommended for aligners, is enough.
Eating and drinking
Always take your aligners out to eat. Chewing with them in can crack or distort them, and food trapped underneath sits against your enamel.
Take them out for anything other than cool water — especially coffee, tea, red wine and fizzy drinks. Coloured drinks stain the trays, and sugary or acidic drinks held against the tooth surface under a tray dramatically raise the risk of decay and white-spot lesions.
Oral hygiene during treatment
Brush and floss before putting the aligners back in. Sealing plaque against your teeth for twenty-two hours a day is how patients end up finishing with straight teeth and new cavities. If you cannot brush after eating out, at minimum rinse thoroughly with water before reinserting.
Handling and storage
Always store aligners in their case. Wrapped in a napkin is how most lost trays are lost. Keep them away from pets.
Remove trays evenly from both sides at the back rather than yanking from the front, which cracks them. Keep your previous set until the new one has been worn a few days, so you have something to fall back on. If you lose or break a tray, contact us promptly rather than skipping ahead to the next one.