If you’ve started Invisalign treatment with Dillon Family Dentistry in either Bryn Mawr or on the Main Line, congratulations on taking the most important first step toward a straighter, healthier smile. However, chances are that many of you will keep wondering, “Are there things I can do to speed this up?”
To be honest with you, the answer is yes, and for several important reasons. For one thing, the process of moving your teeth biologically cannot be rushed, but you can also eliminate the most common habits that delay your present movement. For most patients, with the approaches described in this guide, they finish their Invisalign treatment ahead of schedule!
The brochure will provide you with all you need to know about how Invisalign works, the best ways to stay on track during your treatment, and what you should expect after your treatment is complete!
Key Takeaways Before We Dive In
Here’s a quick snapshot of what we’ll cover:
• Wearing your aligners for the full recommended hours is the single biggest factor in your timeline.
• Skipping or delaying aligner changes adds weeks, sometimes months, to your treatment.
• Lifestyle habits like diet, oral hygiene, and consistency affect how your teeth respond.
• Post-treatment retainer use is essential to protect every result you’ve worked for.
• Regular check-ins at our Main Line and Bryn Mawr locations help us catch issues early.
Table Of Content:
- How Invisalign Treatment Actually Works
- Practical Ways to Move Your Treatment Along
- What Happens After Invisalign? Don’t Let Your Results Slip
- Why Patients on the Main Line and in Bryn Mawr Choose Dillon Family Dentistry
How Invisalign Treatment Actually Works
To speed up your Invisalign experience, you need to understand what is happening in your mouth while using braces. Each clear aligner pushes the teeth in different areas with a small amount of pressure (under 1 millimeter at a time). The bone and tissue around your teeth will remodel slowly based on the amount of pressure being applied to them, which is why long-term treatments take a few months instead of a few days.
When you come to Bryn Mawr for your Invisalign consultation, you will be scanned with digital impressions and provided with a detailed treatment plan that highlights every part of the process. To ensure your plan stays on track, as your braces each aligner will be created based on the previous aligners. So if you miss one of your aligners, it could cause all future aligners to be delayed as well.
This information is just the starting point! Here are some things you can do to help prevent delays during your treatment:
Practical Ways to Move Your Treatment Along
1. Wear Your Aligners 20–22 Hours Per Day – Without Compromise
One of the most important factors in the success of your Invisalign treatment is the amount of time you keep your aligners in place. All the force that helps reposition your teeth is created by the aligners and can only be generated while the aligners are in your mouth. When you take your aligners out for whatever reason, you are stopping that generation of force. To achieve optimal results from your Invisalign treatment, it is crucial that you wear your aligners for at least 20 hours a day, which means that you have about 2-4 hours left to wear them to be able to eat and brush your teeth.
According to studies, patients who wear their aligners as recommended will complete their treatment on or close to their original completion date based on their projected timeline. However, patients who wear their aligners for an average of only 2 hours less than they should each day will definitely experience a delay in the time that it takes to complete their treatment, often by several weeks.
The best thing to do is to put your aligners back in as soon as you are finished eating. Be careful not to place them in a napkin at the dinner table; this is how aligners get damaged or lost.
2. Change Your Trays on Schedule
Your orthodontist creates a treatment plan, including things such as appliance use and how often to change trays, for your Invisalign treatment in Bryn Mawr or on the Main Line. For the most part, the appliances need to be changed every one to two weeks, with the exception of those patients who are progressing quickly enough to warrant changing trays at a different rate than indicated on their plan. Your dentist at Dillon Family Dentistry will help advise you on how quickly to progress through your trays based on how well your teeth are tracking.
The biggest thing to remember is to never prolong the time between changing your trays without first consulting with a professional. Wearing an aligner longer than prescribed will not give you more time to finish your orthodontic treatment; it will only delay your treatment time.
3. Keep Your Aligners Clean and Damage-Free
If you’re wearing your aligners, remember that “warped or damaged” will not perform correctly. Heat can cause them to warp and fit improperly. This can be from leaving them in a hot car or rinsing with boiling hot water. Therefore, be sure to rinse with lukewarm water and always keep unused trays in their case.
If you are not regularly cleaning your aligners, it is possible for bacteria to build up on the aligners, which can lead to irritation of the gums as well as bad breath. Cleaning is essential so that you can maintain a clean and clear indent (the name of the space) where your teeth will go. You should rinse your trays every day upon removing them and use a soft toothbrush to gently scrub them every day.
4. Don’t Skip Your Check-In Appointments
When you attend progress reviews for your Invisalign treatment at our Main Line and Bryn Mawr offices, it isn’t just another appointment on the calendar. These are specifically to check and confirm that your teeth are moving in accordance with the new aligners you received each time, and if there is a small deviation, we will catch it early and make the necessary adjustments. If we do not catch these minor discrepancies early, then you will be required to wear refinement trays at the end of your treatment, which will then prolong your overall treatment time.
If patients stay conscientious about showing up to their scheduled progress reviews, they tend to complete their treatments in line with their initial anticipated completion date. Whenever you think of these appointments like ‘tune-ups’, instead of ‘creating ads’, you will always be inclined to make sure that you come in as scheduled for your progress reviews.
5. Watch What You Eat and Drink
You may be aware already not to wear your aligners while eating; however, this is only one reason for not doing so. If you snack frequently, you will need to take out your aligners fre