5 Ways Your Teen Can Ruin Their Clear Aligner Treatment

In the past, getting your teeth straightened meant having to commit to wearing metal wires and brackets for years. Today, when your teen visits their pediatric specialist, they’ll have the option to choose clear aligners! This exciting modern treatment can allow them to address crowding, gaps, and bite misalignment all without their friends knowing, if that’s what they’d prefer. However, just like with any orthodontic treatment, there are some common mistakes that could set back the process. Read on to learn five ways your teen could ruin their clear aligner treatment.

1. Using Harmful Ingredients to Clean Them

Although your teen may be well-intentioned, cleaning their clear aligners with a hard-bristled toothbrush, toothpaste, or any other harmful ingredient could scratch their trays and leave additional nooks and crannies for bacteria to hide in. It’s also a big no-no to try to dry their aligners with a hair dryer or any other type of heat before they put them back in their mouth or rinse them under scalding hot water. This is because the heat can distort the fit and shape of their trays.

2. Accidentally Losing Their Tray

Because they need to remove their trays at lunch time every day, it can be easy for them to get lost in the shuffle of trash and accidentally thrown away or misplaced. This can set back their treatment because it may take awhile for them to receive their replacement aligners.

3. Leaving Their Trays in the Open

The key to clean aligners is keeping them in their protective hard case. If your child leaves them out in the open, it can leave them exposed to bacteria buildup that can transfer to their mouth, increasing their chances of developing oral health problems throughout their treatment.

4. Eating with Their Trays In

One great benefit about clear aligners is that they won’t need to limit what they eat during their treatment. However, they will need to remove their trays before they eat anything. If they don’t, it could result in their trays becoming ruined or damaged. In addition, they’ll need to brush and floss their teeth after every snack or meal as well as rinse their trays.

5. Drinking Anything Besides Water with Their Aligners In

Similar to eating with their aligners in, it’s important that they don’t drink anything besides cool or room temperature water with their trays in. This is because liquids that are sugary can coat the aligners and increase their risk of developing cavities, and colored drinks can stain their trays.

Clear aligners are a popular orthodontic treatment option for teens and supporting them through the process is an excellent way to teach them responsibility. With important reminders like the ones above, your child will be able to seamlessly make it through their smile-straightening journey.

About the Practice

At Chicago Pediatric Dentistry & Orthodontics, we have an impressive team of six specialists, two of which are orthodontists who are specially trained to straighten smiles of all ages, from children to adults. In addition to offering more extensive treatments like dentofacial orthopedics, they also provide modern, minimally-invasive appliances like clear aligners. To learn more about this treatment, visit our website to schedule a consultation or call 312-766-0995.