Can Invisalign aligners be used as bleaching trays?
Invisalign is registered trademark of Align Technology, Inc.Is it possible to perform teeth whitening treatments using your Invisalign aligners?
For all practical purposes, yes, your Invisalign aligners can probably be used as teeth whitening trays. There are, however, some differences between the design of bleaching trays and clear braces.
Related to these differences, we've listed below some issues that may come into play. You'll simply have to ask your dentist if they have a potential to be a concern in your situation.
Bleaching trays are sometimes designed so they have whitening gel reservoirs.
Teeth whitening trays are sometimes designed so there is a small space (gap) between the front surface of the teeth being bleached and the interior surface of the tray. These gaps are typically termed reservoirs and, as you might ascertain from this name, they are intended to hold a pool of whitening gel in that area (the front side of each tooth) where a whitening effect is most desired. The thought is that this pool of whitener can help to increase the effectiveness and/or evenness of the whitening process.
Despite this conjecture, there isn't a widespread consensus in the dental community that whitening tray reservoirs are necessary. And for this reason many dentists design their trays without them. An Invisalign aligner would approximate a bleaching tray that does not have whitening gel reservoirs.
The gum line fit of whitening trays is usually different than Invisalign aligners.
There can be a fairly significant difference in the way the edges of clear braces and teeth whitening trays fit at a patient's gum line. Bleaching trays are typically trimmed so the cover essentially all of the front side of each tooth, yet fall just short of reaching the gum line. In comparison, Invisalign aligners may fall short of covering a tooth's entire front surface and may rest on the patient's gums (especially on that point of gum tissue that lies between two adjacent teeth).
This difference may or may not be of significant concern. If a bleaching tray does not hold the whitening gel in contact with the entire front surface of a tooth, the whitening effect that is produced may not be even. If whitening gel is held in direct contact with a patient's gum tissue it may cause irritation, especially if it contains a relatively high concentration of peroxide. Neither of these problems will necessarily arise but the potential is there.
