Why Do You Have to Wear Invisalign for Twenty-Two Hours a Day?


There are a number of lifestyle benefits to choosing to straighten your teeth with Invisalign: they’re subtle, comfortable, hygienic, adaptable and of course - you can take them out anytime, anywhere with no assistance from your dentist! As handy as this is when it comes to big family weddings or best friends' birthdays, that ever so slightly too easy removable can quickly become a tempting regular habit. But this could be problematic to the long-term effectiveness of your Invisalign in London. 

How does Invisalign in London work? 
Invisalign works through using a series of differing aligners which then put pressure on particular areas of the teeth moving in small sections rather than applying continuous pressure as with fixed wire braces. Once one set of aligners has moved a tooth after around two weeks, it’s time to move the next and so on and so on. One of the massive benefits of this is that the process for most people is super comfortable and causes little discomfort. But it does mean that you can easily take out your aligners as already mentioned. 

Why 22 hours? 
Imagine your ice trays at home - you’ve just filled them up and popped them in the freezer a few hours later you’ve gone to collect them and “Yay - Ice!”. You pop the two cubes you needed into your G and T (with a slice of lemon) delicious! What you don't realise is that you’ve left the ice cube tray on the kitchen counter. You go back to the kitchen ready to enjoy your second ice cold G & T and… “Oh no.” Melted ice. Now you’ve got to freeze your ice again before you can get back to the ice cold G&T. It’s the same theory when it comes to wearing your Invisalign, sure you can take them out but you’re always going to be going back a step when you do and then having to repeat the same step again. And if you’re really unlucky you could even end up going back two steps and having to go back to aligners previously worn, slowing up the process for you even more! And let's be honest you’ve invested lots of money in these aligners, surely it’s better to crack on with the process, rather than delay and delay? 

But if they’re always going to go back, what’s the point? 
It’s really worth noting that no matter what orthodontic journey you’re embarking on you’re very likely going to be wearing some form of retainer system for many years if not forever, after initial treatment is finished. These retainers are either removable wired, fixed wired (behind the teeth), or aligners like the Invisaligns. I say this because you need to make the idea of wearing some form of brace a part of your life long-term and getting comfortable with the idea that your braces are just a part of you just as much as your nose, knee or favourite piece of jewellery is. Adapting to this mindset will help encourage you to wear them more often and accept that they are a part of your identity long-term.