My first set of Invisalign aligners understandably felt a bit odd to start.  Plus,  I felt like the edges were scratchy in places. My first meals were (almost) ruined because my tongue felt sore and salt and certain flavours were just a no go.

However, my dentist advised me to just use a nail file to smooth the edges out a bit. Seriously, a few gentle swipes with a regular nail file did the trick.  Such a revelation!  I wish I’d done it sooner!

I never had the same problem again. But, it’s a great tip.

You’ll notice in the very first photo in my Invisalign progress pics below that up close you can see some bubbles. I was a bit concerned about these, as you can imagine! But, fear not, another thing that I no longer have and if you make sure your aligners are properly snapped on, this shouldn’t happen. You can use chewies orthodontic aligners or something similar to gently chew on to help with them fitting.

That lisp, though

The lisp is something that I think is almost unavoidable at the start. Let’s face it, you’ve got a foreign object in your mouth (!) and even though they’re thin, you just need time to adapt. Another thing that is lessened by making sure you’ve got your Invisalign on as snugly as possible. You’ll hear in the video (where I’m wearing my Invisalign throughout) that the lisp is gone.

The first few times I took my Invisalign aligners off were fine, but when I came to do it on day two to have a drink, it was not pleasant. Then the same again putting them back in! Seriously, I felt like my teeth were loose. They weren’t, but obviously, they weren’t used to being shackled in plastic. And told me so! The attachments (see below) seemed to make it worse.

So, I held off mealtimes for increasingly longer times because I’d really worked myself up over it. I had to mentally brace myself (groan!) to take them off and on.

But, by day 3,  it really wasn’t that bad! Thankfully, as I was almost ready to give up.

Eating and drinking with Invisalign? First observations, I’m naturally a grazer. I generally eat little and often. I’ve had to rethink this! To get the most out of your Invisalign, the optimal wear time is 22 hours a day.

Of course, you can take them off as often as you like to eat and drink, but the fact you have to clean your teeth and aligners every time means you’re less likely to.

So,  I make every meal count and make sure I’m getting everything I need at that point.

It seems absolutely unfathomable in the first days. It really does. But you definitely adapt and get used to and it. Quicker than I expected, actually!

Another bonus is, I’ve been wanting to drink more water and also to refocus my diet and unofficial Invisalign Diet of intermittent fasting certainly helped me do this!