5 Tips for Helping Your Disorganized Teen with Invisalign

(I am an Invisalign MAB member and one of my sons is receiving complimentary treatment but all opinions completely my own!)

Well it’s been 3 months since Noah started using his Invisalign and so far, so good.  In fact we like it so much that we decided to start his younger brother last month.

These 2 boys are night and day different.  With one, I could hand him a year’s worth of aligners (you change them every week or two depending on your treatment plan) and never think about it again.  He’d just do it.  No worries.

BUT.  My other son does not have the same gift of carefulness.  I can’t even be sure from one meal to the next that he will remember to put them back in his mouth. So I make the necessary Mom-adjustments and we keep on rollin’.

One thing that has helped Mr. LessThanOrganized is finding ways to make it fun and rewarding.

1. I got him a cool superhero cup to put his aligners in at the table, so he likes that. And everyone knows that’s what is in the cup so the other kids organically think to remind him when they see the cup still sitting on the table after a meal.
2. I put a picture on his ipod lockscreen with the words, “Are you wearing your aligners?!” so every time he picks it up he is reminded.

3. We blinged up his case with stickers and markers so he likes carrying it around when we go out.
4. I give him rewards, like if he remembers them for three days straight he gets to have an extra dessert.  Or when he changes his tray each week (I have an alert on my phone to remind me to check on it) then he gets to skip one chore that day.
5. I got both boys their own block of Young Living Thieves soap (OK, I cut one bar in half) to clean their aligners with, which they really like!

Invisalign does sell a cleaning system and they recommend that if you don’t use that you can just rinse your aligners with water and brush them.  Our orthodontist suggested gently brushing them with dishwashing liquid.

I decided to veer a little with a cleaning plan that fits our family’s lifestyle.  They each have a dedicated toothbrush that they use to brush their aligners and they wet it, then rub it on their block of soap and brush off their aligners.  They do this after every meal, along with brushing their teeth.

That’s one of the things I love most about Invisalign, it works for any lifestyle!  Of course, the thing I love topmost is how well it’s working on straightening their teeth!  But after that, the lifestyle thing.

A few months ago I shared 3 tips for managing your aligners that you might also want to check out if you are considering getting started with Invisalign.  And before you think, “Wait….this seems like a pain when traditional braces stay in your mouth and you don’t have to mess with aligners!,” remember this….traditional wire braces do fall off and that means an emergency trip to the orthodontist.  You can’t eat what you want, you can’t clean your teeth as well and there are all kinds of things to manage there too.  I happily traded those issues for the simplicity of managing the aligners.

Thanks for stopping by and if you have any questions, hop over to the Invisalign Facebook page and they’re great about answering!

Again, I am an Invisalign MAB member and one of my sons is receiving complimentary treatment.  My opinions are completely my own and I only work with companies whose products I believe in.  Click HERE to read the full disclosure statement.