So you’re thinking of your dream smile and you need to have Invisalign done to achieve the smile you’ve always wanted. You’re worried about the tooth color attachments sticking out like a sore thumb or having your teeth look yellow while you wear them. Wearing Invisalign aligners doesn’t mean you can’t have the pearly white smile while you straighten your teeth! At our Chicago-based dental loft, we give you a few options to consider!
ZOOM whitening before your start or after aligning your teeth
At our Chicago-based dental loft, we offer multiple options for whitening. ZOOM is our commonly requested whitening that can leave your teeth nice and bright before you start your orthodontic treatment! It’s essentially a one-and-done ordeal. We will first get some before photos of your teeth in your current shade. Then we will polish your teeth to remove any surface stain. After we get your teeth nice and clean, we will then isolate the gum tissue and get started on your whitening. You can expect your teeth to be nice and bright after just 3, 15-minute whitening sessions. Watch an episode or two of your favorite show and leave with a nice bright smile before you start your aligning process!
If you are considering whitening your teeth after you are done aligning your teeth, it would be the same steps, we would just be removing your attachments before we start your ZOOM whitening.
Whitening in your aligners
If you are not a fan of in-office whitening, you can whiten at home while your teeth slowly straighten! The day we take impressions for your Invisalign aligners, we can address your interest in whitening while in aligners.
Dr. Brittany is very hands-on in ensuring that your Invisalign plan is predictable through the very end of treatment. With Invisalign’s software, we can treatment plan by adding tooth attachments on a few aligners. What that means to you is that you can whiten in your aligners while your teeth are slowly moving in the beginning, prior to having your tooth attachments on. We recommend 6 to 8 weeks of consistent at-home teeth whitening before putting attachments on if you were interested in starting your whitening treatment in your Invisalign aligners.
Once Dr. Brittany approves your Invisalign treatment plan, we then get all your aligners delivered to our office. The Sugar Fix team will then go over how to use your aligners, and make sure they fit. They will also go over how to use the take-home whitening gel to ensure you are not overfilling your Invisalign trays of whitening gel.
*Please note that although your treatment plan can exclude attachments entirely, they are highly recommended to use for proper and faster aligning treatment.*
Using a whitening toothpaste while you are in Invisalign
With having tooth attachments on your teeth, it can be hard to have your teeth look white. To ensure your teeth keep their brightness while you’re aligning your teeth, using a whitening toothpaste to keep any darkening or staining at bay can definitely help. Using a whitening toothpaste not only will help keep your teeth nice and clean, but it will also help your teeth from looking dull while you’re aligning.
A favorite whitening toothpaste we use at our Chicago-based dental loft, is the Hello brand, Natural Whitening Fluoride Toothpaste. Using this toothpaste will not only protect your teeth from cavities but also keep your teeth in a nice bright shade and prevent your teeth from getting darker in tone.
If Hello toothpaste isn’t for you, Crest 3D white is also a great whitening toothpaste. It’s been shown to remove up to 90% of surface stain after brushing with this toothpaste one time.
Cleaning your Invisalign trays throughout your treatment
When you are wearing your aligners for 22 hours a day for at least two weeks at a time, you will notice that your aligners can get discolored over consistent wear. We recommend that you do clean them with cold water after eating or drinking anything. If you are drinking anything staining drinks such as red wine or coffees with your aligners on, you will notice your aligners change in color over time. Invisalign starter kits have samples of cleaning crystals you can use to soak your aligners in for 20 minutes and use a toothbrush to clean the aligners. Keeping your aligners clear can help with the appearance of your teeth looking whiter! Sometimes it’s not your teeth looking stained, it’s just the aligner!
Aligning your teeth does not mean you have to compromise a bright white smile in the process! You deserve to love your smile through the entire process while aligning. Multiple options are available for you to choose from, contact our Sugar Fix team to get started on whitening and straightening your teeth!