Metal Mouth Message Board

Hi, I've just joined the forum after reading posts for ages whilst deciding whether to go ahead with the treatment or not. I'm now on tray 3 and am generally gettting on ok with it. However, I've constantly got a dry mouth and lips and although I drink tons of water and use vitamin e oil on my lips, they are still chapped. Is this something I should expect for the whole duration of my treatment? or will it get better?. Also, I've noticed that my breathe isn't as fresh as it once was! - I am so consious of this. Is it ok to rinse during the day with Listerine with the aligners in?. My orthodontist basically told me not to eat or drink anything but water with the aligners in. I do find this a bit restricting, I'd love to have a glass of wine or soft drink during the evening without the hassle of removing aligners and cleaning my teeth. They are hard to keep clean, I found that toothpaste makes them smell, so I just use water now and my electric toothbrush. Anyway, I am so pleased that I started the treatment, I have 6 attachements (4 down & 2 up) which are unsightly, but I am starting to notice movement in my teeth already, so I guess it is worth it. Any comments on the dry mouth issues would be appreciated.

Hi. Sorry to hear about your chapped lips. The aligners do dry your mouth out - but for me it just means I drink lots of water (about 3 litres a day). Never had an issue with dry lips, but maybe you are licking them more? Also the current cold weather seems to dry my mouth out more than otherwise.

Listerine I think can stain your teeth pretty bad - so would steer clear. What I do if I think its getting a bit whiffy is take my aligner out and rinse it with cold water and then rinse my mouth out with water too.

I found that toothpaste wasn't really doing the job once the aligner had been worn for over a week. I soak mine every night in steradent, which seems to keep them fresh.

Hi, i'm new to invisalign too, and reading all the advice on this forum has been quite simply a life-saver the past week. I'm getting the dry mouth thing too, I figure its most likely because there is something alien in your mouth and it's unsure how to deal with it! I'm trying to drink loads of water and keep putting lipsalve on to ease the dried lips! It seems there are many hidden down sides to this so called wonder treatement!

I had attachments put on from the word go and I am now basically starving as I can not get the friggin things off to eat. I'm on the invisalign diet! How many pounds has everyone lost as a result of invisalign?!

I've broken half of one of the attachments trying to remove the trays so far and one week it, its getting no easier. I have 10 attachments and I just don't seem to have a knack of removing them so any tips would be appreciated!! I currently have 3 fairly bad cuts on my fingers from the aligners as I fight to get them out! So verrrry painful!!

My mouth is much drier for the few days following a new tray. I drink water all day long, but I have also found that it helps to drink extra water a few days BEFORE using a new aligner. This has helped alleviate that parched feeling.

I also use lip balm liberally - especially before going to bed. Doing that serves as "insurance" that I don't wake up the next morning with cracked lips!

I don't have too much of the dry mouth issue, but I suffered from excess saliva issues early on so not sure if that has anything to do with it. I get dry mouth once in a while but not much.

I do get the dry lips tho - I use lip balm all the time, especially at night like the previous said so that they don't dry out overnight.

I had a dry mouth too at the beginning of my treatment last April. I soon got into the habit of carrying water with me, but after several months I realised I didn't need it any more. I think my mouth finally got used to having an extra thing there!

I had excess saliva too and this seemed to pool inside the trays, giving a bubbly look where there were gaps around the tops of my teeth. this made me self-concious when i started treatment, and i still get it to some extent, but have stopped worrying about it as i can see my teeth looking so much straighter and i know i'm half way there.

Invisalign never gave me chapped lips, only the cold weather.

I'm pretty new to Invisalign too! (only started this Tuesday!) I didn't notice the dryness in the first two days, but now my mouth is almost ALWAYS dry, and I definitely have very chapped lips! It could be because of the colder weather, or just that I'm unconsciously licking my lips more/swallowing more saliva than usual?

I'm always carrying water and lipbalm around now. LOL. I think my dry lips are much more noticeable than the Invisalign. >_<

My daughter began wearing her plastic retainers less than two weeks ago (she had metal braces), and yesterday she awakened with very white, swollen lips! After having a private freak, I realized that she was dehydrated. After she drank copious amounts of water, her lips returned to a normal size. At first I thought she was having an allergic reaction to the retainer plastic (but that would be unusual after wearing it round the clock for almost two weeks).

She was often thirsty the first week after beginning to wear the retainer, but slacked off on drinking water as her thirst diminished. After all of this, it might not hurt to keep drinking as much water as is comfortable after your thirst diminishes because even if you don't feel thirst, the drying effects of the plastic might still be there. Of course, I am not a doctor, but if you could have seen my poor baby's mouth... She is perfectly fine now, by the way (and drinking lots of water again!)

I use this fabulous lip cream from Clinique (a UK cosmetics store for those in the US!) which was a bit expensive but is AMAZING.
It dissolves the dead skin and makes the skin really soft. I put it on before bed and in the morning.
Go to a skincare specialist and get them to recommend something.
Also change your lipstick to a moisturising one (if you wear it!)

for your lips, get a lip balm called Neutrogena Immediate Repair and apply this followed by a coat of plain vaseline. works incredibly!!!! after a few times with the Neutrogena, it heals your lips so well all you need is a little vaseline to hold the moisture in. I have chronic chapped lips when I don't use this method, but it always sorts out the problem within a day.

Biotene makes dry mouth products that you can find in your local drug store or drug department of many large stores like Target and Walmart. They work well, so give them a try!