Metal Mouth Message Board

How important wearing Invisalign at all times? meaning can I take the trays off for a few hours a day in the evening? Has anyone heard this cited as a cause of a failing invisa treatment?

Taking aligners off for a few hours a day is just fine - I have been doing it and am now on aligner 13 and they are fitting perfectly. I just take them out to eat or if I have a function (once took them out for a wedding for the entire night). I guess it depends on how easily your teeth move (ie. some people need to have them in for 3 weeks instead of 2), but I have yet to encounter any problems!

I'm on my 15th set of aligners and I'm young and have found it tough to keep them in the recommended amount of time. Sometimes I'll go a whole day without them in! But if I do that, I just wear the set a day longer. It hasn't affected the movement at all and I can see the movement of my teeth and the new trays don't hurt. I think it depends on each person and how well they respond to the trays. But I'd say on average in a day I leave them out for about 5 or 6 hours!

holly crap 5 to 6 hours you may regret doing that in the long run i only have mine out 1.5 hours

My ortho told me that 20 hours a day is fine, or that each one should be worn for 280 hours. He said it's OK to skip a day every month if absolutely necessary but if I do to wear the aligner a day longer.

I don't think any of this is set in stone. I seem to find that when I first put in a new aligner I leave it in longer because it hurts too much to take it in and out, but towards the end of the second week I'll leave it out a bit longer.

I take them out for about 40 mins or so whenever I eat. Thats three times a day. I try to keep them in as much as possible.
On new year's I went to a party and got wasted, when I was about to puke I removed them because of some horror gag story I read on this board, I passed out and put my aligners back in about 7 hours later. For some reason the aligner felt tight again for the next 6 hours, I guess my teeth moved back when the aligner was out.
I try to keep them on even when I drink at bars and parties, even though it does give me a dry mouth and bothers me at times, but you know it's better to go through this now than regret it later.