Metal Mouth Message Board

I'm almost never home with work and school and just got my invisalign trays 2 days ago. I was thinking that all i need with me is a tooth brush, toothpaste, dental floss and the case with me all the time?

What else would i need? and is it ok to clean my trays with a tooth brush and toothpaste?

Thanks

I keep those same things with me all the time and have never needed anything else. You could always carry a small bottle of mouthwash with you if you feel it would help but personally I never have.

When I'm at work I usually clean my teeth and then use the same brush to clean my aligners straight afterwards. There's usually some residual toothpaste left on the brush which I find is a perfect amount to get them clean (whilst running them under the tap). I'm not sure if that's considered the best way to do it but it works for me and my aligners are always clean and fresh. As far as I'm aware you're not technically supposed to clean your aligners with toothpaste as it can sometimes be too harsh but I've never had any problems doing it my way.

Hope that helps a bit!

I do the same thing as the poster above me. I use toothpaste and anyhow they are only in for 2 weeks, if you use a soft brush there is no damage in that amount of time that I can tell. Also, since I file the edges of mine for comfort they get roughed up from that anyhow.

I carry a small cosmetic case that came with an inside zip pocket that was lined in vinyl (easy to clean if needed) on one side and 2 small pockets on the other side. I keep anything that might be wet in the vinyl pocket. For a toothbrush holder I use the sterile pods, I forget the name of them but they are cute actually and just clip on to the top of the toothbrush and sterilize...steripods or something might be the name, I am too lazy to go and look. So that goes in the vinyl side. The other side carries my floss and one of those little travel mouthwash bottles and my latex glove I use to easily remove the aligners. The larger middle compartment carries the toothpaste. The bag is pretty small, I carry it around the house too like if I am downstairs and want a snack then I have it right with me.

There's a Retainer/Aligner wipe you may also be interested in. It's great for those times when you don't have access to fresh running water to rinse or clean your aligner: http://www.dentakit.com/clfrgoto.html

They recommend not to use toothpaste as it's too abrasive on the aligners. I carry a ziploc bag with a travel toothbrush and toothpaste. Once I'm done eating, I brush my teeth, rinse the aligners and pop them back in.

I also recommend a little pack of tissues or napkins - a lot of places I ended up brushing my teeth only had hand dryers, and that made it awkward when my face and hands and particularly my cleaning stuff were wet and I wanted to dry it all off before putting it back into the bag.

As a precaution I also carried my previous set of aligners around with me in case my current ones broke while I was out and about. It never happened but it was reassuring knowing that if I was hours away from home I could at least retain my teeth in their previous position until I could sort it out.