Invisalign Braces: How to Manage Your Coffee Habit

If you can't get through the day without regular cups of coffee and you want to wear Invisalign braces, then something has to give. While you can carry on with your caffeine habit, you'll run into problems with your braces. What do you need to know?

What's the Worst That Can Happen? 

While you may be prepared not to eat when you have your Invisalign trays in, you may think that drinking is OK. This is true of water, but not of drinks like coffee. People like Invisalign trays because they are almost invisible. The problem is, their clear trays pick up stains.

If you drink a lot of coffee with your trays in, then the trays will start to look coffee-coloured. If they pick up stains, then they aren't clear any longer. Your teeth will basically look brown. This isn't a good look.

Plus, if you drink sugared or sweet coffees, then the coffee will leak into your trays. Rather than being washed out of your mouth, this residue is held against your teeth by your braces. If this happens often enough and for long enough, then you could end up with decay problems.

How to Juggle Invisalign Braces and Coffee

You don't have to give up coffee completely when you wear Invisalign trays; however, you may need to put your habit on a schedule. Typically, you need to wear your braces for around 22 hours a day. You take them out when you eat and to clean them after meals.

So, you may want to try timing your coffee drinking so that it doesn't take up more than the two-hour slot when you have your braces out. For example, you can add a coffee – or even two – to your mealtimes or straight after you've eaten. You'll take your trays out at mealtimes anyway, so you may as well add coffee to the mix then.

For the rest of the day, you can take your trays out to have the occasional coffee. Just don't have your trays out more than you have them in. Don't linger over your drink but finish it quickly. This reduces the time that your braces are out.

Finally, make sure to rinse your mouth out with water after you've had a cup of coffee. This gets rid of any drink that is on your teeth that might end up in your braces when you put them back in.

To find out more about Invisalign and what you should and shouldn't drink during treatment, talk to your dentist.