How to Keep Straightening Your Teeth with Invisalign During the Holidays

The holiday season brings festive gatherings, good cheer, gift-giving, and lots of eating. This is certainly a busy time of year as people rush to decorate, buy presents, prepare meals, and finish up at work for the year. Many people also travel to see their loved ones over the holidays. With all this commotion, it can be easy to fall off your Invisalign treatment plan. Here are a few tips to keep your teeth on track to a straighter future.

Remember to Wear Your Aligners as Required

For the treatment to work, Invisalign patients need to wear their clear aligners for twenty to twenty-two hours every day while only removing them to eat and attend to oral hygiene. Given that the holiday season is packed with parties where cookies and other snacks are generously offered, it’s important to remain mindful of how long you need to wear your aligners. Neglecting to wear your aligners enough can delay the course of your treatment while causing discomfort during the process.

Carry a Storage Case for Your Aligners with You

Many people make the mistake of wrapping their clear aligners in a napkin or a paper towel and setting it on the table during meals. This makes it quite easy for your aligners to be accidentally thrown away. Unless you wear your aligners consistently, your teeth will shift back out of position, and the progress you’ve made so far in your treatment will be undone. Carry an aligner storage case with you so you have a safe place to store your aligners.

Always Brush and Floss After Eating

Your clear aligners might seem like a protective shield for your teeth, but they also isolate your pearly whites from your mouth’s natural cleaning process. If your teeth are thoroughly cleaned before you put your aligners in place, this shouldn’t cause any problems. However, if food particles get stuck between your teeth and your aligners, harmful bacteria will be happy to feed on them and multiply, which can lead to tooth decay or dental stains. Remember to brush and floss thoroughly at least thirty minutes after eating before you put your aligners back in place.

Invisalign can be an excellent way to realign your smile, but it requires some effort on your part. By taking care to keep on top of your treatment plan during the holidays, you can expect to have a beautifully straightened smile when they come around again next year!

About the Author

Dr. Ryan Eskridge earned his Doctor of Dental Surgery from the Ohio State University College of Dentistry in 2002 and purchased his own dental office in Powell, OH in 2016. He proudly holds memberships with the American Dental Association, the Ohio Dental Association, the Columbus Dental Society, and the Spectrum Study Club. His office offers general, restorative, cosmetic, and emergency dentistry in addition to Invisalign treatments. To learn more about keeping on track with Invisalign during the holidays, contact his office online or dial (614) 792-0063.