Can You Smoke with Invisalign Aligners?
We have put this post together to provide information, and we’re not going to lecture you in this article.
We’re all adults and aware that smoking is less than ideal for your teeth, gums, and general health. But does it ruin Invisalign teeth aligners if you want to get straight teeth and you plan to smoke? The answer is — quite possibly!
Invisalign is the most popular teeth straightening treatment in the UK, and it can take months to get the results you are looking for. Now imagine if when you have your Invisalign aligners fitted, your dentist tells you that you can’t smoke for the duration of the Invisalign treatment. Would you choose to give up or carry on smoking?
Here at Smile Stories, we are not going to tell you to stop smoking, although we do recommend it. We know that not everyone wants to stop smoking, and we don’t want any unwelcome surprises with your Invisalign teeth aligners, so let’s answer this question now.
The Two Main Issues When Smoking with Invisalign
1. Invisalign teeth aligners can stain
Smoking stains tend to be yellow and are most often seen on fingers and teeth. Unfortunately, smoking will also stain your Invisalign aligners.
Look at the photo below. The aligner, bottom right, shows the effect of stains from smoking after just one week’s use. The staining will be even more pronounced if you’re on a two-weekly change. But it won’t be too noticeable while it’s in your mouth against your teeth, so don’t worry too much.
2. You need to wear your trays 22 hours per day
This is the most important consideration if you are a smoker and considering treatment with Invisalign teeth aligners. You should only remove your aligners to eat for two hours per day. This gives you 40 minutes per meal to remove the aligners and no more.
If you don’t wear your aligners for 22 hours per day, your teeth won’t move and you’ll prolong your treatment time. This means if you keep removing your teeth aligners to smoke or vape, you are not going to be wearing your aligners for the full 22 hours required to straighten your teeth. There simply isn’t time to remove aligners for smoking.
What If You Want to Smoke during Invisalign Treatment?
Ideally, if you have to smoke while undergoing Invisalign treatment, wait until you remove the aligners to eat and smoke in this window. Brush your teeth, then replace the aligners. But don’t exceed the two-hour removal time during the day. If you must smoke outside the removal times, then it is better to leave them in. It is unlikely anyone will notice the staining on your teeth aligners.
Can you Vape with Invisalign?
If you are only vaping occasionally, taking your aligners out when doing so and aren’t exceeding the maximum two hour aligner removal window per day, then vaping should not negatively impact your treatment.
If you do vape whilst keeping your aligners in place, you should expect some mild discoloration of the aligners to occur. If you are taking your aligners out to vape, you have to consider how long you are taking the aligners out for and how often, as this may slow down the process of straightening your teeth.
Vaping is a relatively new phenomenon developed only in the last few years. Because of this, we don’t have much information on the effects of vaping and Invisalign trays or other oral health issues. But if you look at the photo above (the top tray), you’ll see that after a week of vaping, the trays are only mildly stained.
So vaping might be better than smoking to prevent staining of teeth aligners. This does not mean that vaping is better than smoking, and plenty of evidence indicates vaping could have detrimental consequences on your health.
But with vaping and Invisalign, it is about the amount of time the vape is in your mouth while using it. If you are taking your teeth aligners out for long periods to vape, then, as you already know, it’ll take longer to straighten your teeth. So like smoking, you need to be mindful of vaping times or vape with your teeth aligners in place.
What Can You Clean Your Invisalign Trays with If You Smoke?
Never use hot water as this will distort your aligner trays, and don’t try to clean your aligners with anything abrasive to remove the staining, as you could weaken them and cause them to break. We recommend cleaning them with Retainer Brite, which you can pick up from any orthodontist. This helps to remove tartar, plaque and smoking stains. So you can continue your Invisalign treatment without anyone knowing that you are wearing aligners.
How Much Longer Will Invisalign Take if I Smoke?
If you smoke with Invisalign and take your trays out, this will almost always add additional time to your Invisalign treatment and may also impact your treatment’s final result. Although it might seem strange, it is better to smoke or vape wearing your teeth aligners, as there is no way to know how much time you may add to your treatment plan if you do not wear your aligners 22 hours a day.
We really would urge you to stop smoking, and maybe wearing Invisalign teeth aligners might make it easier to fight the cravings as you have a reason (other than health) to give up smoking. You could contact NHS Stop Smoking for help with nicotine replacement. Then either cut down and smoke only when you remove aligners to eat or stop altogether. But if you smoke, we will not lecture you about it when you come to see us at Smile Stories!
Find out more: Can you drink with Invisalign?
It’s time to get the smile you have always wanted. Contact Smile Stories today and book your free smile makeover video consultation with one of our friendly team of Invisalign dentists in Bournemouth.
AUTHOR
Dr Gareth Edwards BDS (Hons) MFDS RCPS (Glasg) qualified as a dentist with honours. Now providing Invisalign Bournemouth, he has a keen interest in aesthetic dentistry, including orthodontics.
