Can you smoke or vape with Invisalign? 

Invisalign is the clear aligner option for patients that choose to straighten their teeth discreetly, without having metal/ceramic fixed braces. These custom-designed acrylic trays are increasingly the preferred orthodontic solution for many adult and teen patients due to their almost invisible appearance. Suitable candidates for Invisalign treatment are provided with a series of aligners that are changed every 1-2 weeks.
Invisalign aligners must be worn for a minimum of 22 hours per day and should only be removed for eating, drinking, and cleaning teeth.

Invisalign is popular for the following reasons:

⦁ Excellent aesthetics, with the aligners being barely visible.
⦁ Comfort, as there are no brackets or wires which might rub against the inside of your cheeks and lips.
⦁ No dietary restrictions, as it is removed when eating and drinking.
⦁ Easy to maintain good oral hygiene as aligners are removed for toothbrushing and flossing.
⦁ Does not require as many appointments as fixed braces, as they can be monitored remotely and breakages are rare.

Can I smoke with Invisalign?

I would strongly advise against smoking with your aligners in because:

⦁ Your aligners will become discoloured due to the tar and nicotine in tobacco, making them yellow and more visible when worn.
⦁ The heat from smoking may distort or warp the aligners altering tooth movement and the effectiveness Invisalign treatment.
⦁ The nicotine from the cigarette smoke can become trapped between the Invisalign tray and your teeth and increase plaque. This can eat away at your enamel, which can cause tooth decay.

So it’s ok to remove my aligners to smoke?

Removing aligners to smoke is definitely preferable to smoking with your aligners in however, bare in mind that:
⦁ Regularly removing Invisalign, particularly if you’re a heavy smoker, can lead to the aligners being out for too long and result in less effective tooth movement.
⦁ Aligners need to be worn the recommended 22 hours a day, otherwise treatment will take longer.
⦁ Smoking effects the way that teeth move through the bone, making the risk of root resorption, and potentially loss of teeth greater.
⦁ Smoking can increase the speed at which teeth move because bone breaks down faster. However, it also means bone is slower to regrow and harden, which means your teeth can move more easily once your treatment is over.
⦁ Smoking causes bad breath as tobacco encourages the production of odourous sulphur compounds in the mouth.

Can I vape with my Invisalign in?

Vaping is the inhalation of vapourised liquid by means of a vape.
Vapes are smoking apparatus with liquid-filled cartridges that heat nicotine, flavouring and other chemicals to create an aerosol that you inhale.

Again, I would discourage vaping with your aligners because:
⦁ As with smoking, vaping causes discolouration of aligners, making them less transparent over time.
⦁ Chemicals such as propylene glycol (also used in antifreeze and plane de-icing solutions) are found in vapes which add sweetness. This can get under your aligner and stick to tooth enamel which can lead to decay.
⦁ Those who vape tend to use a vape for longer periods of time compared to those that smoke, and so this means more time with the aligners out of the mouth and therefore prolonged treatment times.
⦁ Vaping causes dry mouth and can increase the amount of plaque on teeth which can cause tooth decay.

Vaping

Vapes are often marketed as “healthier” than cigarettes, having been first introduced as a way to help smoking cessation amongst adult smokers.
However, though these may have fewer toxic chemicals than cigarettes, we still don’t know exactly what chemicals are in vapes/e-cigarettes, and so we know a lot less about the effects on health.

What we do know is that vaping is on the rise particularly amongst Britons aged 16-24, many of whom have never smoked cigarettes. Their brightly coloured packaging and enticing flavours such as bubble-gum and strawberry lemonade are enticing to this particular age group, though companies deny targeting this demographic.

Recent data has highlighted cases of lung injuries and deaths associated with vaping and links to chronic lung disease and asthma.  The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has confirmed 2,807 cases of e-cigarette/vaping use-associated lung injury and 68 deaths.

So, the risks of vaping or smoking, with or without your Invisalign in, are not to be ignored.

Of course, the best thing for your teeth and overall health would be to look into
quitting smoking or vaping altogether. If you did, the health benefits would start almost immediately.  You would reduce the chance of staining and plaque on teeth, along with reducing the chance of developing cancers, including oral cancer.

Particularly with the unknown long-term effects that vaping has on our health and dental health and the impending ban on vapes and e-cigarettes, now would be a great time to stop the habit.

Speaking with your doctor or dentist for smoking cessation advise would be a good start.