22 Hours a day??...

[JennaSmiles]

Has everyone been keeping their trays in the recommended 22 hours/day? I find it difficult...If i go out for drinks I'll keep them out for a few hours, I also keep them out for three hours during the day before my snack and after lunch. I haven't noticed any problems, especially when I do it after the first week of new trays. The only time I did notice a problem is when I forgot to put it in at night (drunk), the next day it didn't feel awesome but it feels fine now.

[Coop22]

I definitely try to stick to the 22 hours a day. There are always going to be things that come up that require me to keep them out longer, but those instances are few and far between. As much money as Invisalign costs, I'm not taking any chances at screwing it up.

[Janesays]

I wear them when I go out for drinks and just take them out for 30 minutes or so to enjoy a drink...

You owe it to yourself to wear them as much as possible.. its only a couple years at the max for most...

Good luck!

[myhollywoodsmile]

I try and stick to 22 hours. Occasionally things get in the way but I never have them out for long periods. I would say that I probably average 21 hours, simply because having them out for meals/drinks etc probably takes 3 hours altogether as I often have them out when I cook too as I like to taste stuff.

Once, when I went out for a meal I think I had them out for about 2-2.5 hours, and also i have trouble with them at the beach because of all the sand. Other than that I try to stick to them. I have this feeling that if I took them out for too long I would never put them back in!!

[Zoso]

Everyone needs to wear their aligners for as many hours as their teeth need to complete movement - this can vary from one person to another. But, even if you're getting away with it thus far, the reduced wear could still bite you in the backside at a later stage, if for example a particular series of the trays were working on a more difficult to accomplish type of movement. And though problems like this may not seem too bad in initially, they can accumulate as each tray follows the one before - I've seen someone have to step back and repeat a series of about four or five trays before when treatment has got off track like this, which would amount to a delay in completimg treatment of two to three months! And that's not the worst case scenario either - if your treatment went too far off track for repeating trays to work, you could need a reboot, meaning new impressions, and a delay whilst you waited for new trays to come in.

You've paid a significant sum of money for this treatment, and you're investing a good chunk of time to it. As Coop, Jane and Hollywood all say, you owe it to yourself to give this treatment the very best possible chance to proceed smoothly to plan! And that does mean sticking to the recommended 22 hours/day most days.

[Weeeyin]

I've been out partying with the trays in, its only food i've been taking them out for. ok i know i prob shouldnt drink alcohol with them in but its not done any harm so far, so long as every now and again i have a slosh with water.....which is prob a good thing when i'm drinking, its really helping the hangover situation too, and a good brush of teeth and trays when i get in - sorted!

[Janesays]

hehe I didn't really want to say it, but i have perfected drinking a martini with my invisalign in...

As weeyin said, make sure you swish some water in there or brush them when you get home..

However, with that said, it is best that you follow Invisalign's guidelines.. .we are just rebels here !