There are no dietary restrictions with Invisalign, but there are a few factors you should take into consideration when eating during your treatment.
There are a variety of food restrictions with traditional metal braces, by dint of the fact that they can be damaged quite easily. With metal braces, you can’t eat very hard or brittle foods, or anything especially sticky or gooey.
Invisalign treatment does not require these same restrictions. Invisalign aligners are removable and must be taken out when you eat, so you can eat anything you like, and your diet will not change much at all.
That being said, there are a few ways that your eating routines will change during Invisalign treatment.
Aligners must be removed to consume anything other than water.
When exposed to food, and any drinks other than water, your aligners can become damaged, scratched, discoloured or foul-smelling . That means that you need to take your aligners out before you eat or drink anything other than water.
You need to plan ahead.
During your Invisalign treatment, you must wear your aligners for 22 hours a day for treatment to stay on track. Since you take your aligners out to brush and floss your teeth, each time you eat or drink anything other than water, that two-hour time slot when you can have your aligners out disappears pretty quickly!
With a little time management, two hours are more than generous, but does require some extra planning each day.
You need to brush and floss after every meal and snack.
Every time you eat, you’ll need to clean your teeth off before putting your aligners back in. Not cleaning your teeth can cause food particles can get trapped in the tight spaces between your teeth and aligners.
This creates an ideal breeding ground for bacteria that can result in bad breath, smelly or discoloured aligners, or even tooth decay.
This means it's a good idea to keep a toothbrush, floss and toothpaste with you at all times. That way you don’t get caught having to insert your aligners over less-than-clean teeth!