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What Happens if You Forget to Wear Your Invisalign Aligners?

woman fitting invisalign aligners to her teeth

When it comes to orthodontic treatment, not many options offer the same freedom and flexibility as Invisalign®. The clear aligners straighten your teeth and can be removed when eating or brushing. However, this benefit may come with some drawbacks. When patients do not wear their aligners often enough, it can impede their progress or cause a relapse. At Tower Dental in Balwyn, we want your Invisalign treatment to be as successful as possible.

So how does Invisalign work, and what happens if you forgot to wear Invisalign for a week?

Teeth Shifting

The longer you keep your aligners out, the more problems you will cause. Your teeth will begin to shift back to their misaligned position, which is the last thing you want.

It is important to follow the instructions provided by your dentist in Balwyn and wear your aligners for 22 hours a day, only removing them for meals and brushing. When you leave your aligners out for too long, you remove the pressure placed on your teeth by the aligners to shift them into the correct position. As a result, all the progress you have made towards your new smile is lost.

Prolonged Treatment

When each day of wearing your aligners brings you closer to your dream smile, it isn’t worth reversing your treatment progress. Every time you forget to wear your aligners or take them out on purpose, you prolong your treatment time.

The more committed you are to wearing your aligners for the time allotted by your dentist in Hawthorn the less time your treatment will take. Remember that one of the advantages of Invisalign is that you get results faster than traditional metal braces, and major advancements can be seen in just a few months if you commit to treatment.

You’ll Ruin Your Routine

Getting into a routine when it comes to wearing your Invisalign aligners is the optimal way to achieve your smile goals. When you get into the habit of removing your aligners to eat and brush and then immediately replacing them, you will find yourself following a routine that keeps your treatment effective and consistent. However, if you begin to break this routine and leave them out more often, you will form a bad habit that can be challenging to break.

You May Have to Go Back to an Older Set of Aligners

In some instances, if the trays are left out for too long, patients may even have to regress to an earlier set of aligners. Even then, the fit may not be correct. In these cases, a new set of trays may need to be fabricated. This halts progress and slows the overall treatment process.

Stick to Your Invisalign Routine

The smartest way to protect your teeth and achieve a healthy, beautiful smile is to follow your Invisalign guidelines as given. As a general rule, Tower Dental recommends wearing the clear aligners for at least 22 hours a day. Maintaining regular check-ups is also important so we can keep your treatment plan on track. Our trained dentists will be able to tell if the aligners were not worn often enough to make the necessary changes.

Our clinic is conveniently located close to Kew, Mont Albert, Surrey Hills, Hawthorn, Deepdene and Camberwell. Please feel free to contact our caring dentists on 03) 9817 7144 for any of your dental needs.