Do I have to wear the aligners all the time?

You might ask ‘what is a dental aligner?’ a dental aligner is a thin, clear and flexible plastic ‘mouth guard’ which fits closely over the teeth. A series of these appliances is used to obtain incremental changes to correct the teeth according to a treatment plan developed by the doctor. Because they are unobtrusive, aligner appliances are ideally suited to adult patients whose lifestyle or work commitments make it difficult for them to wear conventional appliances. A proper orthodontic assessment, diagnosis and treatment plan is essential to successful aligner treatment, as with any other form of orthodontics.

Once the aligners are created, the prescribed amounts of time that the patient should wear the aligners are between 20 to 22 hours a day for two weeks, per aligner. If the patient wears these aligners less than that, the desired outcome may not be reached. If the aligners are worn for any time less than the hours prescribed, the ClinCheck, or 3D movie, that the patient sees in the beginning of his or her treatment may be altered with the final result.

In addition, if the patient proceeds too quickly from one aligner to the next without wearing it for the allotted number of hours, the following aligners will become ill-fitting thus resulting in the correct movements of the teeth not getting achieved. By wearing the aligner for the prescribed 20 to 22 hours a day, the teeth have the time required to move into the new position before the patient moves on to the next set of aligners.

Often times, when patients don’t wear their aligners as much as the doctor tells them to, the aligners start leaving large gaps between the tooth and the aligner, which results in the teeth having to be rotated or needing to be pulled down or moved into a certain position. The aligners will be much less comfortable over time if they are not worn for the required amount of time. They will start to become more and more ill-fitting causing the gaps between the aligner and the tooth to become larger. This increases the chances of needing new impressions for mid treatment corrections, which will lead to retaking impressions and additional costs to the patient in order to remanufacture aligners that will fit more snugly.

Therefore, it’s important that patients follow the prescribed amount of time an aligner is meant to be worn, in order to see desired benefits.