Are you wondering if the eating restrictions for traditional braces apply for the revolutionary Invisalign clear aligners too? The short answer is no, you do not have to restrict yourself to a soft food diet that people with braces have to adhere strictly to.
However, that is not to say you should go crazy with your choice of food and beverages or do not have to make some slight changes to your routine while in treatment. After all, ensuring that your Invisalign trays are well maintained is essential for an effective process.
To help patients new to the Invisalign process, here are some simple guidelines you can follow to ensure you get the most out of your treatment.
Always Remove Your Invisalign Aligners Before Eating or Drinking
While you can mostly still eat and drink what you want, one important reminder is to ensure you remove your aligners before every meal.
Why? The chewing pressure of your teeth can cause damage to your aligners over time if you leave them in while eating, while colored beverages like coffee, wine, and juices can cause stains as well.
To avoid cracked, damaged, or discolored trays, we recommend you take them out before consuming any meal or beverage.
The only exception is plain drinking water. It is fine to leave your retainers in since it will not stain the aligners.
Brush Your Teeth After Every Meal
Since your aligners are in your mouth most of the time apart from mealtimes, you want to make sure that they do not trap unwanted food particles and bacteria while in your mouth.
The best way to avoid such a situation? Brush and floss your teeth after every meal to ensure that your aligners are covering clean and healthy teeth.
Types of Food and Drinks to Avoid
While the benefit of the removable nature of Invisalign aligners is that you can continue to indulge in your favorite food and drinks, there are still some types of food and drinks we would recommend you avoid during your treatment.
Super-hot or cold beverages
Try to consume room temperature beverages since super-hot or cold drinks can cause the distortion and warping of your aligner trays – affecting your treatment.
Dark Colored Beverages
Even without braces, dark-colored drinks like coffee and wine are top culprits for staining teeth. With aligners in place, it is only encouraging the staining process if the liquids are trapped between the aligner and your teeth for a long period.
Hard, Sticky, and Chewy Food
Nuts, jawbreakers, and veggie sticks are types of hard food that could apply enough pressure to move your teeth in unplanned directions or even cause cracks in them. As you can imagine, that would set back your treatment quite a bit, so make sure to avoid that.
Sticky and chewy food, on the other hand, can stick to the surfaces of your teeth causing an unwanted build-up of plaque and tartar over time. If you are not diligent in brushing your teeth after every such snack, you could be setting up yourself for tooth decay in the long run.
Have More Questions About Our Invisalign Treatment?
Check out our helpful guides and tips over on our blog!
Ready to start treatment? Dunegan & Cole is a Diamond Plus Invisalign Provider. Call today to get started 703.753.4996 or request a complimentary consultation online!