Can you eat and drink with Invisalign?

If you’ve decided to start wearing Invisalign braces to fix the misalignment issues you’ve been experiencing, you’ll soon see the positive effects the treatment offers as it gradually straightens your teeth. 

Yet there are some practical questions you might have about wearing the aligners: one of them being whether you can eat food or drink liquids while wearing the braces.

This article will explain what you should do before and after eating or drinking if you wear Invisalign braces and advice on how to maintain a high degree of oral hygiene.

Eating and drinking with Invisalign aligners

One of the major selling points of Invisalign is its comfort and removability; the fact that you can take the aligners out as and when you please is a great reassurance to many. Of course, they should stay in your mouth the vast majority of the time to ensure that they do their job, but if you’re eating dinner or drinking a hot drink, for instance, you’ll want to take them out temporarily.

If it’s only cold or tepid water you’re consuming then it’s typically fine to leave the braces in, this won’t cause any damage to the aligners. However, if you plan on having hot drinks, juice, or alcohol - anything that isn’t cold water, really - you should remove the aligners first and only put them back in once you’re finished.

Although the Invisalign range is robust, you don’t want to jeopardise the quality and shape of the material with acidic or alcoholic beverages.

The same applies to all food: remove the braces before eating anything. It doesn’t matter if you are enjoying hot or cold food, eating with your Invisalign aligners is never advised. Hard or hot food could harm the surface of the aligners. 

Removing your Invisalign braces

Thankfully, removing the Invisalign products from your mouth is simple. Just remember to keep the aligners on a clean and dry surface while they are out of your mouth so they avoid collecting any unwanted bacteria. Also, don’t forget where you put them! If you misplace or lose your Invisalign braces, they can be expensive to replace.

We’d suggest brushing your teeth after meals to remove any remnants of food so that your mouth will be clean to wear your braces once again. Put your braces back in with care and caution, ensuring that they fit comfortably on your teeth. 

Invisalign braces possess numerous advantages compared to traditional braces, and the flexibility to eat or drink what you normally would is one of them, as long as you remove them before doing so. Many wearers of the metal braces know about the annoyance of the restrictions on their diet as they can’t remove the braces that have been wired into their mouths. This makes cleaning those braces an arduous chore.

To learn more about Invisalign and the other benefits it brings, check out the Pure Smiles website today.