Welcome to the aligner club!
Much like traditional metal braces, wearing invisible braces can require you to make changes in your everyday life to adapt to your new BFFs. Here are 6 unexpected but totally normal symptoms and lifestyle changes that happen while wearing clear aligners
Common Side Effects
1. Temporary discomfort
There are many benefits of wearing clear braces compared to traditional metal braces but of course, there are some sacrifices that come along with getting our best smile. One initial symptom of changing to new aligners is temporary discomfort.
Besides the teeth and mouth soreness, you may experience a lisp for the first 2-3 days as your mouth needs to adjust. Your tongue no longer hits the back of your teeth when you talk but once you have adjusted to the new feel, you would forget that you even had braces on!
As always, there’s a rainbow at the end of your smile journey. That slight discomfort is absolutely worth it for that Hollywood-worthy smile that’s otherwise super convenient. You can check out our free smile assessment with just 4 questions you need to answer from the comfort of your phone to see if Zenyum Invisible Braces are for you!
2. Your teeth feel loose
“My teeth are falling out!”
You might be panicking that the next potato chip might mean losing your tooth. However, it is normal for your teeth to be shaky and loose. Don’t freak out, this is a sign your aligners are working and you can continue eating crunchy and hard food
3. Your mouth goes dry
A more uncommon side effect of invisible braces is the feeling of your mouth going dry. Since the aligners are covering your teeth for most of the day, your saliva will not be going over your teeth like it used to.
You can easily combat this temporary feeling by drinking lots and lots of water.
Lifestyle Changes
4. You upload photos every few days
“Patients are then monitored via the Zenyum app, where they upload a photo of their teeth every five days. This helps to ensure compliance and proper tracking of the aligners. This use of technology ensures that your progress is monitored without needing you to make trips to the clinic – how smart!” – DailyVanity
This one isn’t much of a lifestyle change if you’re a selfie queen or king, or just enjoy tracking your smile journey. We want your smile transformation to be as fuss-free as possible but still professionally supervised.
Our Zenyum App does just that for you, by monitoring your progress and ensuring you stay on track. After 10 days and sufficient wear time of 20-22 hours a day, your aligners will begin to feel loose and you’ll receive a reminder to switch to a new set.
5. Removing your clear aligners before every meal
Keep your aligners invisible and stainless by remembering to remove them before every meal (yes, that includes your coffee and tea break too!)
Once you get used to your aligners, you may easily forget that it’s even on and not take it off before eating or drinking anything other than water. A plus point about your aligners being removable is that you won’t face any food restrictions, so don’t say goodbye to your trail-mix yet.
However, it’s important to floss before putting your clear braces on especially if you’re consuming sticky food like chewing gum.
6. Changing aligners every one or two weeks
Depending on your treatment plan, you’ll change to a new set of aligners every one or two weeks. You’ll receive all the aligners you need in the beginning so that you don’t have to visit the dentist each time you change your aligners. You simply have to upload a photo of your teeth via the Zenyum App and let your dentist know if you’re experiencing any issues.
You’ll also receive reminders via the app when it’s time to change your aligners so that you stay on track.