Can you eat while wearing your Invisalign clear braces?
Invisalign is registered trademark of Align Technology, Inc.Eating food while wearing your invisible braces is not a good idea, for a number of reasons.
Some patients might be tempted to try to eat with their Invisalign aligners in place. This temptation can be especially strong for those who have just switched to a new, tight fitting set of aligners that are hard or painful to remove. However, your Invisalign clear braces must be removed before you eat. There are a number of reasons for this.
- If you eat while wearing your removable braces you may damage them.
- Invisalign aligners are constructed out of thin plastic. If you subject your aligners to the forces associated chewing it is quite possible that you will damage them. You might wear a hole through the aligner's biting surface or you could crack, bend or otherwise distort its original shape. Any one of these types of damage might affect the fit of the aligner, therefore making it less capable of guiding the alignment your teeth as planned, or worse, allow your teeth to move in unexpected ways.
- You'll probably find that trying to eat while your invisible braces are in place is not very satisfying.
- If you do try to eat while wearing your removable braces it is unlikely that you will find the experience very easy or satisfying. At some stages of treatment you may find that the manner in which your teeth come together when your aligners are in place is not an alignment that is very suited for chewing.
You may also find that the food wants to become stuck to or gum up on or around your aligners. You may get away with eating like this at home but in public, forget it. And once you have finished eating you will still need to remove your aligners to clean them. Any debris that accumulates in your aligners will be unsightly, foul and could promote tooth decay.
Can you chew gum while wearing clear braces?
Will having Invisalign treatment change the way you eat?
One of the great conveniences of the Invisalign system is that your aligners can be removed. This means that, to a great extent, some eating activities as well as the types of food you eat won't have to change significantly. Having said this however, most patients will find that having Invisalign treatment will affect their eating habits in some ways. As an example, there will be times (especially during those first few days when you switch to a new set of aligners) when you find that your teeth are quite tender and sore. During these periods you may find that you will want to shy away from hard foods that require more biting pressure in favor of relatively softer foods.
Invisalign treatment can also affect the frequency with which you choose to eat. After every meal you must clean both your teeth and aligners before you reinsert them. You will find that this takes some time and effort. Because of this, you may find that you change your eating habits from one of frequent snacking to one where you tend to have larger yet less frequent meals. This change may or may not be a favorable factor in maintaining your chosen weight.
