How long are people leaving each aligner in?

[luvmekids]

Hi

Is anyone changing aligner's less than 14 days? I believe this is the norm but next year I have an important function to go to in the beginning of May and I wont finish my treatment until end of June and I would like to have my new smile finished in time. Anyway I asked the ortho about this and she said as long as your teeth move easily it is ok to change them any time after 10 days. After doing calculations if I change my aligners every 12 days then I can cut 2 months off my treatment.

I am confused as to what to do so am wondering if anyone else changes them sooner than the standard 14 days. My hubbie says "your paying all that money why not just do what you were first told"...yes thankyou Mr practical with the straight teeth! But seriously if your teeth have moved to where they are meant to be in 12 days whats another 48hours? I mean even changing them every 13 days will take a whole month off treatment for me so it is very tempting.

Im looking for some guidance here so tell me what your thinking please!

[PrincessLauren]

Hi,

Not started my treatment yet (waiting for ClinCheck) but my ortho has told me to change the aligners every 10 days. I assume this is standard practice for him and he is a platinum elite provider. He even gave me a bunch of paperwork and leaflets on invisalign and had crossed through every place it said 2-3 weeks and wrote 10 days next to it!

Although he does also say to wear them for 23 hours a day...

L xx.

[MCOMarkhamOrthodontist]

The frequency at which you change your trays will depend on a number of things:

1. amount of movement expressed per aligner: eg. if movements are slowed to half the default amount my Invisalign, you might be changing aligners weekly

2. number of hours aligners are being worn: as orthodontists, and in my case, as a patient myself, we are aware that 22 hour a day wear is not always happening. Therefore, some ask patients to wear aligners for 3 weeks at a time. Still, it is important to note that it isn't just the total number of hours worn, but some weighting has to be placed on the number of consecutive hours of wear

3. individual variability due to metabolism: people are different. Just like some people will bruise more easily, some will have teeth move faster. Certain medications may also slow teeth. Generally, your orthodontist should not shorten their usual number of days of wear until a few appointments in so that they can gauge how quickly teeth are moving.

All of this being said, if your orthodontist is an experienced provider, you should feel confident under his/her care .

[Punkin]

I am "supposed" to wear mine for two weeks; I've worn them for longer occassionally, but never shorter. My ortho says that sometimes it just takes longer to get the teeth to move. I assume it has something to do with the amount of time they are in your mouth during the day.

Assuming someone is going to wear them 23 hours per day is, well quite frankly, absurd. Unless you can eat 3 meals a day and brush and floss after every meal and before bed in less than an hour - which I'm sure that, realistically, no one does. Heck, it's not good for your digestive system to eat that quickly.

But I digress. I don't think it's safe to assume you'll be able to change every set after 10 days, 11 days, 14 days, whatever, until treatment begins and you see how well your teeth are moving.

[myhollywoodsmile]

Hi there,
I change mine every 14 on my orthos recommendation and have to say that I would be reluctant to change sooner. I often have to make small compromises if I go out to dinner I leave them out for 1 and a half hours etc. That means that I don't always make the full 22 hours. Having said that I'm pretty sure I manage 21 hours at least 99% of the time.

My reason for not wanting to switch earlier is that although my teeth are fully moved after 10 days I still feel that the last few days make a difference in terms of how loose the aligners feel after I reinsert them after meals. I just would be very nervous about cutting back on that time, just to go to an event.

At the end of the day though your ortho is the person that knows the best. If he/she thinks it is ok, then I'm sure they would know. Lots of people do seem to be on a 10 day schedule anyway.

Good luck

[Sunny]

If your ortho recommends you change your aligners after a certain number of days, then s/he will be making that judgement after watching how your teeth move and be confident that these changes won't harm your gums or the roots of your teeth.

The main risk of moving teeth too quickly and too often, is root re-absorption. This means that as a result of the root of the teeth moving they become 'damaged' and slowly 'wear aware'. The worst that can happen is, the teeth will stay loose until they fall out. Fortunately this is rare ... but it can happen.

Before treatment, during longer treatment and at the end of treatment, most ortho's will request x-rays be done, so that the health of the roots of each tooth can be checked.

I believe you should each trust your orthodontist. This is the person trained to take care of your teeth and this is the person you're paying to do this job! Good luck!

[PrincessLauren]

I did wonder if he suggested 23 hrs knowing it going to be more like 21 hrs. Whereas if he said 20 hrs it would be more like 18 hrs! Same as the speed limit theory :-)

[Weeeyin]

I wore trays 1 -3 ( I think, may only have been 1 &2 ) for 2 weeks each then went on to 1 week each for 4 - 15 and thats my bottom arch completely finished (now wearing bottom tray 13 only 12 hours a day till I can get longer off work for a retainer to get made) I'm now on a 2 week rotation as since tray 15 is starting to move the wonky front teeth he wants the movement slower give the roots time to settle. Thinking about how long I have the trays out.... 45 mins in the morning for breakfast & shower (always get soap in my mouth and if it gets into the trays its horrible) 15 mins tea break in the morning, hour for lunch and about an hour for dinner in the evening, somtimes more & maybe the odd crisps break or afternoon tea break so generally 20 hours + .
I thought I'd be finished before my mates wedding in August but after hospital and this 2 week schedule its looking more like Christmas - fingers crossed for no track refinments over Christmas (eek christmas - not even had a summer holiday yet!)