Congratulations on your Invisalign Journey!

Congratulations on beginning your Invisalign treatment! We are so excited to watch your smile transform! Your Invisalign delivery appointment is an exciting day, so sometimes patients forget the instructions explained at this appointment. For convenience, we outlined our Invisalign instructions below. As always, please call or text our office at (949) 347-7083 or email is at info@laderadentistry.com if you have any questions.

Attachments:

Attachments are made of composite and bonded to your teeth. Each attachment is a special geometrical shape designed by our doctors. They helps move teeth to their perfect end position. Attachments can sometimes pop off; however, if this occurs we can easily replace the attachments. Just call or text our office and we will get you scheduled from there.

Aligner Insertion:

Gently push the aligner over your front teeth then apply equal pressure in the back molar areas (using your fingertips as shown below) to push the aligner into place. Do not bite your aligners into position—this may damage them.

Aligner Removal:

Use your fingertips to pull down on the inside of your right and left back molars and slowly pull the aligner off of your molars. Next you will grab the right and left back ends of the aligner and slowly work your way forward gently prying the aligner away from your front teeth.

You can also use your PULTOOL to remove your trays. Simply insert your index finger into the O-ring, using your thumb as additional support. Then latch the hook of the PULTOOL on the back of your aligner near the molars, and gently pull forward until the aligner is disengaged from attachments or teeth.

Wearing your Trays:

Aligners need to be worn FULL TIME or at least 22 hours a day in order to effectively move teeth. They should only be removed for roughly 15 minutes at a time when eating or cleaning your teeth. Patients who wear their aligners full time finish treatment faster and have better outcomes.

Use your Munchies:

Place the aligner over your teeth by hand and apply slight pressure with your fingers until it is seated almost completely.
Insert munchies device into your mouth and position it between the upper and lower front teeth. insert your upper front teeth into the larger of the two grooves on the Munchies device or your lower front into the smaller groove shown in the diagrams below.
With your teeth engaged in the device, gently bite down on the Munchies and work the aligner into place until you feel that it is dully seated, especially in the front of your mouth. This will take about 20-30 seconds each time.
Once completed, move the ridged arm of the munchies device into your mouth and position it between the upper and lower teeth in the side (premolar area), as shown in the diagram below.
Then gently bite down on the Munchies until you feel that the aligners are fully seated, especially in the back of your mouth.
Focus on one arm at a time and ensure that gentle forces are applied to all of your teeth, both upper and lower, front and back.
Repeat this use of the Munchie device at every aligner reinsertion.

Lifecycle expectancy with recommended usage

Each Munchies device is designed to aid in the seating of clear aligners. They should be used at each aligner insertion (or reinsertion), to seat (or reseat) for 30 seconds in the anterior region and 30 seconds in each posterior segment. The standard reinsertion protocol should not exceed more than 5 events per day. Each Munchies device is designed for 14 days of this protocol. Any usage exceeding this recommended protocol or aggressive chewing will reduce the lifecycle expectancy of the Munchies and may lead to premature tearing or fracturing.

Tracking:

Tracking means that your teeth are fitting perfectly into your aligners. Do not change your aligners until all teeth are tracking perfectly. There should be zero "air space" between the edges of your teeth and the aligner. If there is an air space, we advise that you wear the aligner for a longer period of time until the tray begins to fit. We do not recommend progressing forward into new aligners unless you are tracking perfectly. If you have worn an aligner for 2 weeks and it still does not track, please call or text our office to schedule an appointment.
Propel: If you experience tracking problems we recommend using Propel more times a day to help with the correction.

Changing Your Trays:

Please wear each aligner set #1-3 for 2 weeks and then 1 week unless instructed otherwise. You will change into a new aligner set on the same day each week.
Use a Munchie 4 times a day for at least 5 minutes and CHEW, CHEW, CHEW!! At least 20 minutes at night as well.
Always keep your most recent aligner set as a back-up.

Losing an Aligner:

Lost an aligner? No worries, life happens! Please move forward with your next aligner set. You may need to wear this set longer (2 weeks) in order for it to track properly. If you do not have any future aligners please fo back to wearing your mod recent aligner set and call our office to schedule an appointment to receive you next set.

For example, if we gave you aligners #1-12 and you lose#12 please go back to wearing #11. If you did not save a back up set please contact our office immediately as this an emergency.
There is a fee of $150 each is an aligner needs to be replaced.