Are You Ready? 3 Ways to Prepare for Invisalign

You’ve thought long and hard about this decision—you really want to straighten your teeth with Invisalign. You know you have to work with a dentist, but what should happen before you start the process? How can you best get ready for treatment? Read on to learn three ways you can prepare for Invisalign and have a successful treatment.

Have a Healthy Oral Routine

Throughout Invisalign treatment, you must have healthy habits already established. Every day, you need to brush and floss your teeth, but when you have the aligners, you’ll need to repeat these habits every time you eat or drink anything besides water. If you have not implemented healthy habits into your lifestyle, you could struggle with keeping your aligners and teeth clean and healthy.

In fact, you may find that the aligners don’t fit as comfortably as they should because you have bits of foods stuck between your teeth. Or you could face tooth decay during your treatment, which can delay your care timeline. Having a healthy dental routine built into your schedule will make the transition to Invisalign much smoother.

Talk to Your Dentist

This may seem obvious, but you need to begin the conversation with your dentist if you are interested in Invisalign. Perhaps you actually are not a good candidate for Invisalign (either because your teeth are too severely misaligned or some other reason). During your consultation, your dentist can make sure this procedure is a good fit for you. Plus, not only can they start you on treatment, but they can provide you with sound advice for getting ready for it.

Have Soft Foods Ready

For the first few days after getting Invisalign, as well as a couple of days after transitioning to a new set of aligners, your mouth may feel a little sore. The aligners should fit snugly on your teeth, but they place a gentle force on them, pushing them to the ideal positions. To ease any discomfort, you should eat softer foods, such as eggs, mashed potatoes, oatmeal, soup, and so on. Preparing your pantry and fridge with these soft foods ensures that you don’t have to eat hard foods with a tender mouth.

In addition to planning for a soft food diet, you can have other soreness-relieving methods at the ready. For instance, you can have a cold pack in the freezer beforehand or over-the-counter pain reliever handy prior to starting treatment.

In the end, preparing for Invisalign in these ways can help you have a better experience overall. Taking the time to do these things before you begin Invisalign allows you to go into treatment more confidently and feeling ready to start this new challenge!

About the Practice

At Applegate Dental, we have been serving the West Seneca community for decades. Our five dentists have various professional backgrounds, but we are proud to offer Invisalign treatment to patients with mild to moderate misalignment. If you are would like to learn more about Invisalign, or if you would like to get started, you can schedule an appointment by calling our office at 716-668-4646 or visiting our Contact Us page.