CAN I EAT OR DRINK WITH MY ALIGNERS?
CAN I EAT OR DRINK WITH MY ALIGNERS?
TROUBLE SHOOTING From DIGITAL ORTHODONTICS - Solo Edition by Dr. Bak Nguyen
Yes, you can, but it will be your responsibility to clean your teeth and your aligners as soon as you cease eating to avoid the formation of decays. Keeping food stuck between your aligners and your teeth is like cultivating bacteria and the very possibility of complications.
Some doctors even push their patients to eat with the aligners to maximize the expression of the teeth in the aligners, utilizing the forces of mastication to push your teeth to mold the aligners. That works, but once more, the risks of cavities and of complications are yours to bear. Even if you eat with your aligners in, you won't be saving a significant amount of time to justify the risks, if you ask me.
For 17 years plus treating people with aligners, my personal opinion is to remove your aligner to eat and drink, except to drink water. For those looking to maximize the expression of the teeth, since COVID, we are all grinding our teeth anyway, from there will come the expression of your aligners. Even before COVID, more than half of the population were grinding their teeth. So chewing will help, but you are bearing the associated risks of complications.
Now, how about drinking anything but water? Well, whatever liquid you drink, part of it will go between your teeth and the aligners. Let say that you were drinking soft drinks or orange juice, well that is the equivalent of putting your teeth in a bath of acid until you take your aligner off to clean them. What is dangerous is that until the damage is well advanced, you won't feel any pain or discomfort. Don't do that to yourself.
You spent time and resources to gain a beautiful smile, not more dental works.