Dental Implants: Stains, Whitenings and Other Considerations
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Dental Implants: Stains, Whitenings and Other Considerations

Dental implants can make a smile look fabulous – I know I have them. However, if you are just thinking about getting them, you may have a lot of questions. You may be wondering how smoking affects implants, whether or not wine will stain them, if they can be whitened or other concerns. I also know from experience that it can be intimidating to ask some of these questions to your dentist. In my dental implant blog, I am going to answer the questions that can be hard to ask. I hope you find the info you need in this blog and that it guides you to the right decision about dental implants. Thanks for reading!

Dental Implants: Stains, Whitenings and Other Considerations

Invisalign Maintenance Requirements for Perfect Results

Isobel Berry

For people with crooked, overcrowded, gapped or misaligned teeth, a newer teeth straightening approach called Invisalign is widely available today. Away from the usual wired braces, dentists have designed a more comfortable mechanism of carrying out teeth straightening. Invisalign uses aligner trays made of smooth, comfortable and nearly invisible plastic to straighten teeth. The trays are custom made for each patient using mouldings and X-rays depicting what type of movement your teeth need for straightening. Once made, you wear the trays on your teeth and the trays, in turn, push your teeth into the desirable straight alignment. Periodically, your dentist will create new Invisalign trays for replacement as your teeth slowly move.

For people using Invisalign, there are several maintenance requirements that must be followed. The following are three basic requirements that many easily forget to follow correctly. As a result, their Invisalign experience sometimes falls short of their expectations.

Wearing trays over maximum daily durations

Since Invisalign trays are removable, many patients conveniently remove the trays whenever they like. Some erroneously remove their trays for long durations such as when they are attending events or even sleeping. For good results, patients should wear their trays for maximum durations. Only brief extractions, such as during meals, should be done. Constantly removing your trays for long durations greatly interferes with the natural teeth-straightening process being carried out by the trays. 

Remove when eating or drinking

Most people simply eat and drink when still wearing their Invisalign trays. Food particles and drinks may discolour Invisalign trays. You should always remove your trays every time you eat or drink. You should also remember to brush your teeth every time you eat or drink anything before re-inserting the Invisalign trays. This will further ensure no food or drink particles get trapped between your teeth and the Invisalign aligner trays.

Cleaning Invisalign aligner trays

Your dentist should provide you with the appropriate cleaning material for Invisalign aligner trays. Aligner trays should be cleaned every time they are re-inserted. It is tempting to have your cleaning fluid in a container that you dump the aligners into every time and pick them up to wear later easily. This is not a recommended cleaning mechanism. You should thoroughly clean the aligner trays with the cleaning system and rinse properly. Alternatively, brushing and rinsing the aligner trays with lukewarm water can serve as an appropriate cleaning method. Cleaning aligner trays eliminates the chances of bacteria build-up in the trays. These and other care mechanisms instructed by your dentists should be followed carefully for a perfect result when using Invisalign.


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