Cavities.

Nobody wants em… Ever.

While researching Invisalign I came across a posting in which someone claimed to get five (5), yes, FIVE cavities while using the Invisalign fixtures. I found myself thinking “Did you brush your teeth and the fixtures often? How often did you floss? Did you use mouth rinse daily?” You have to be overly diligent when you have plastic (I don’t know what kind of plastic is it but I’m going to ask next Tuesday) covering your teeth for weeks or months.

Before I talk about cavities, a quick back story…

Back in May of 1996 I gave someone money to pierce my tongue. The gentleman that pierced my tongue told me a few ways in which I could aide the healing process. I took his suggestions and then stepped it up a notch.

He recommended something akin to hydrogen peroxide for the mouth. I went to my local CVS and bought the product. Every day, multiple times per day in fact, I applied it to my new piercing.

I also carried around with me a small container of Listerine. After I ate something I rinsed my mouth out.

For a while, 2 weeks, maybe 3 or even 4, I don’t recall exactly, I did everything I could to aide the healing process.

Now 12+ years later I still have my tongue piercing and have never had any troubles with it.

With Invisalign I’m going about a simliar process. The first day I wore my fixtures I asked my dentist office and asked how often I should clean them. “…once a week, every day. It’s up to you.” They also said I could use Efferdent, brush them like I would my teeth or just rinse them with water.

Un huh. ‘Once a week.’ Survey says… “Uh. No. I don’t think so.”  And so I considered the situation – possible cavities or clean the fixtures. With that in mind…

Here is my present daily routine:

• Early AM (7ish) – eat breakfast, brush my teeth, rinse out my mouth with Listerine, inspect fixtures and brush if necessary.
• Early PM (1ish) – eat lunch, rinse out my mouth with water or Listerine.
• Mid PM (6ish) – eat dinner, floss, brush my teeth, rinse out my mouth with Listerine, brush both fixtures with a separate toothbrush using toothpaste.

I will probably bring to work a small amount of Listerine so I can rinse out my mouth in case I can’t/don’t come home for lunch or I go out with my co-workers.

It is boggling to me that people would not take extra step(s) considering the fact that they are putting something over their teeth for weeks or months for at least 22 horus a day. This seems not only negligent but naive.

If you are willing to wear Invisalign fixtures everyday, take a few extra minutes to clean them once a day – before/after you brush your teeth.

Also, floss daily. It’s not only good practice you will see feel results as you floss. Today I felt a gap between two teeth that have been tight for as long as I can remember. When I looked in the mirror I saw that there was in fact a tiny bit of space.

I couldn’t help but get excited. I’m only a few days in and I’m starting to see results! HFCIT!

Invisalign isn’t the end all be all fix to one’s dental troubles. The normal daily needs must still be met. Brush. Floss. Rinse.

If you do NOT want cavities brush your fixtures daily.

Sure, you’ll lose one minute every day but at least you won’t spend any extra time in your dentist’s chair having cavities filled.

Previous Invisalign posts:

Invisalign Part 3

Invisalign Part 2

Invisalign Part 1