If you have recently taken up clear aligner treatment like Invisalign or Angel Aligner, your dentist or orthodontist would have told you that you would have to wear your aligners for a minimum of 20-22 hours a day.
Each set of aligners applies a small but constant force on your teeth. Progressing through each set gradually shifts your teeth to their final desired position. Clocking the recommended number of hours of aligner wear ensures that your teeth move to their desired position.
The same principle applies for metal braces. Each time you visit your dentist or orthodontist for an adjustment appointment, we would tighten or make a small change to slowly shift your teeth. However, because the braces are bonded on to your teeth, they are constantly applying pressure to your teeth 24 hours a day, every day!
Is 20 hours a day good enough for Invisalign?
The ideal situation that dentists want for the most predictable results is for patients like yourself to wear their aligners 24 hours a day, every single day. However, this is obviously not possible because you will need to take them out to eat and brush your teeth!
Therefore, the 2-4 hour window is to allow you to carry on with your day-to-day activities with minimal interferences.
When your aligners are taken out of your mouth, your teeth do not have that gentle force pushing them into the desired position, and they will naturally tend to shift back to their original position.
What happens if I don’t wear my aligners for 22 hours a day?
When you are unable to wear your aligners for the desired 20-22 hours a day, your teeth are more likely to shift back to their original position. This is known as relapse.
Your teeth are less likely to move according to the treatment plan as well, thereby increasing the need for refinement sets. This would increase the treatment time needed to align your teeth, which could be very frustrating or tiring for you.
The amount of pain, discomfort and tightness you experience when you put your aligners back on could also be much more severe. The longer your aligners are left out of your mouth, the greater the chance, and even the amount, your teeth will relapse. When you try to put the aligners back on, they would be “forced” into moving to another position (again), increasing the soreness and discomfort you experience.
Something else to consider is that your aligners are made of plastic, after all. Even with the advanced material of the aligners nowadays, there is still a phenomenon called “plastic fatigue” where your aligner trays deform with more use. So if you’re only wearing your aligners for 12 hours a day, and you feel your trays are getting looser, it might not necessarily mean that your teeth are shifting, it could also be that there is plastic fatigue of your aligners. This means that your teeth may not actually be moving according to plan and you may not end up with your desired results at the end of the treatment.
Is it okay to wear Invisalign for 21 hours a day?
Yes, it absolutely is!
The 2-4 hour window is to allow you to take your aligners out for eating and brushing your teeth!
As long as you are wearing your aligners for the recommended duration of 20-22 hours a day, you’re doing really well!
Is it okay to not wear aligners for a day?
One of the most common questions I get from patients like yourself is – Can I not wear my aligners for a dinner function or a wedding I need to attend?
The best thing about clear aligners is that they are really convenient to pop on and off, and are practically invisible unless you look really closely. I would generally recommend for you to wear them as much as possible, especially if you are not going to be eating for the entire duration of the event you are attending.
However, I do understand that it is sometimes difficult to clock the minimum number of hours on certain days. What you can do is to make up the number of hours by wearing your aligners for an additional day, or however many necessary additional days, to make up for the hours you did not manage to clock.
I would not advise wearing your aligners for only 12 hours a day, because that means that half the day is spent pushing your teeth into the correct position and the other half is spent letting your teeth relapse back to the original position. This seems a little counter-productive to me, and you may find that your aligner journey may not progress as smoothly or as quickly as you had hoped!
To keep on track with treatment, 22 hours of wear is necessary.
Ultimately, I like to tell my patients that the main downside of choosing clear aligners over fixed metal braces is that you have to be disciplined and hardworking enough to clock the 20-22 hours of wearing your aligners every day.
Many of my patients take a week to get comfortable with their aligners, and most are able to wear and remove them without even looking at the mirror! It can be a little inconvenient at the start, but as you get used to it, they just become a part of your routine!
Dr Amanda Koh
https://kohedental.comDr Amanda Koh is the Founder and Managing Director of kohe™ Dental. She is also known as The Invisalign Dentist.She has a special interest in helping patients achieve their ideal smile outcomes with clear aligners like Invisalign and Angel Aligner and braces.