Can you drink beverages while wearing your Invisalign aligners?
Invisalign is registered trademark of Align Technology, Inc.Drinking beverages while your invisible braces are in place is not recommended.
Align Technology, Inc., the makers of the Invisalign system, states that you should remove your aligners when you drink beverages. There are a couple of factors associated with this issue that might make this point either an important one or moot.
The need to remove your Invisalign clear braces when drinking liquids will depend on the type of beverage you are consuming.
The potential complications associated with beverage consumption while wearing invisible braces will fall into one of two categories. One is the potential effect that the beverage might have on the aligners. The other is the potential the drink has for causing damage to your teeth.
A) Effects beverages might have on Invisalign clear braces.
- Hot beverages may warp you Invisalign aligners.
- It is conceivable that the consumption of very hot liquids (coffee, tea, or soup) might cause your removable braces to warp. This is because Invisalign aligners are plastic, vacuum-molded products. When they are fabricated a heat-softened sheet of plastic is sucked down over a model of your teeth. Due to this thermoplastic characteristic, if at a later date the aligner is placed in a high-heat environment, its original shape, and consequently its fit on your teeth, may become distorted.
- Some types of drinks may discolor your invisible braces.
Colored beverages can cause Invisalign aligners to stain (as well as any debris, such as tartar, that has accumulated on them). Colas, tea, coffee, wine and any other type of tinted beverage has the potential to cause this staining. Having said this, each Invisalign patient will find that their personal experience will vary. It may be possible that the rate at which a person's aligners become stained over the two weeks that they are worn is not readily apparent and therefore not a significant problem for them.
(For a remedy, check out our pages about cleaning Invisalign clear braces.)
B) Effects that beverages may have on your teeth if consumed when removable braces are being worn.
- Drinking beverages while wearing your Invisalign aligners may promote the growth of dental plaque.
- Saliva provides a number of benefits for teeth. The presence of saliva has a washing and cleansing effect on teeth. It also dilutes and buffers bacterial byproducts that can cause tooth decay and gum inflammation. When clear braces are worn they create a barrier that inhibits the contact of saliva with wearer's teeth and therefore minimizes some of saliva's beneficial actions.
As an example, take the case where a sugary beverage (such as soda, juice or sweetened coffee) might be consumed while a person is wearing their clear braces. At least some portion of the beverage will seep into the interior of the aligners. Once it is there it will provide a food source for the bacteria living in the dental plaque surrounding the person's teeth. And because they are now getting a meal (the sugary beverage), these bacteria will increase their production of tooth-damaging byproducts. However, because the clear braces are in place the quantity of saliva, which typically can counter act some of damaging potential of these harmful byproducts, is minimized. The net effect can be one where the state of the environment within the removable braces one that is tipped towards active tooth decay formation.
- The damaging effect of beverages that seep under your removable braces might be amplified.
- Beverages that are acidic in nature, such as soda, can produce an effect that leaches mineral content from teeth. The potential a person has for experiencing this type of erosive damage will be a function of the level of acidity of the drink as well as the amount of time their teeth are exposed to it. In those cases where an acidic drink is allowed to pool inside a person's clear braces, its concentration will not be readily diluted by oral fluids and it will be held in intimate contact with tooth surfaces for a prolonged period of time. Both of these acts, at least in theory, could be considered to be factors that might amplify the erosive potential of the beverage.
Drinking cool water when wearing your Invisalign aligners is a great idea.
Drinking cool water while wearing your Invisalign clear braces is ok and, in fact, a great idea. There is no potential for this drink to stain or warp your aligners. Any water that does seep inside them will only help to dilute and flush away bacteria and bacterial byproducts that might cause damage your teeth.
You don't have to avoid consuming your favorite beverages, just remove your aligners first.
Of course you can still drink whatever beverages you want during your Invisalign treatment. It's just that if there is any question that doing so might cause harm to either to them or your teeth, just remove your aligners first. Then, once you are finished consuming the beverage, clean your teeth as is appropriate (brush, floss and rinse) and then reinsert your invisible braces.
