Can I Whiten My Teeth during Invisalign Treatment?
Can I whiten my teeth during Invisalign treatment?
Patients who are interested in Invisalign teeth straightening are often also interested in other cosmetic dentistry procedures, such as teeth whitening in Winter Park. This is a common question for patients undergoing Invisalign treatment and those just looking into the process. The short answer is yes, you can whiten your teeth during the Invisalign process. However, we recommend considering the best time to do so. Additionally, we recommend sticking with Winter Park dentist-provided whitening products, which can help whiten evenly to avoid any "spotting" that may occur with the Invisalign "button" attachments.
Regarding timing, our general recommendation is for whitening treatments to occur towards the tail end of Invisalign treatment, typically in the last 4 to 6 weeks. This is primarily because your teeth straightening procedure will be mostly complete, and your teeth will be near their final positions. This is particularly important if you have anterior (front visible) teeth that have previously been rotated or crossed with others, showing new surfaces previously hidden or covered by other teeth. Before starting whitening, we also recommend regular cleaning and polishing - to remove any surface stains that may have been present before your Invisalign treatment.
When considering which whitening products to use, we suggest a whitening product provided by your Winter Park dentist, which can safely whiten within your Invisalign aligner trays and provide an even whitening solution through your attachments. Our product for our patients is Opalescence PF, which can be used directly within your Invisalign aligners. Typically, we suggest using lower strength concentrations, such as 10% or 15% for Invisalign patients. Because patients are already wearing their aligners throughout the day, this is not as inconvenient as it may be for others not undergoing treatment.
When is it advised not to whiten my teeth?
Suppose you are undergoing Invisalign treatment through our office. In that case, our doctor has already checked and cleared any dental conditions (such as cavities or deep cleanings) that may present adverse reactions to whitening. Therefore, if you are undergoing Invisalign directly through our office - typically, there will be no restriction on whether you can whiten your teeth, but rather just the best timing as advised above. However, if it has been a while since you've seen the dentist or had outstanding treatment, like fillings or a root canal, you should usually wait until the conditions have been cleared before teeth whitening.
Can I whiten in my retainers?
Suppose you have clear plastic retainers, like Invisalign's Vivera retainers. In that case, you can typically whiten them with the Opalescence PF gel we mentioned above - however, you should always check with your dentist to be sure. Otherwise, our patients can follow the advice given above regarding whitening within your Invisalign aligners.
Is whitening in Invisalign effective?
Using your Invisalign aligners or retainers is convenient and saves some cost compared to custom whitening trays. However, it can take longer or more applications than purpose-built whitening trays. This is because our custom trays for our patients are designed to hold a specific amount of whitening gel for each tooth. When using an aligner or retainer, there is not the same amount of space, causing some of the gel to be pushed out and not contact your tooth surface. This can result in more applications needed to whiten and the need to wipe off excess whitening of your gums. Most patients do use their Invisalign aligners to whiten without issue. However, we recommend custom whitening trays for patients who like to whiten frequently to make the experience shorter and easier.
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