Can I have a ''day off'' from wearing aligners?

[Alex21]

This morning I took my aligners out, got showered and dressed, had breakfast and forgot to put my invisalign trays back in. I realised when I was about 5 minutes into my journey to work but I didn't have time to go back.

So I've spent all day at work without my aligners in and have just got home and put them back in. They felt a little tighter than usual when I put them back in. Is this going to be a problem? Should I wear them an extra day or two over the usual two week period?

[Dr Ehsan J. Esfahani]

Hello Alex

Constant pressure is what moves teeth most effectively, so we are looking for continuous wear-time over the 2 weeks. Aligners should be worn 22 hours per day for 2 weeks. The same effect is not achieved if for example you wear aligners 11 hours per day for 4 weeks.

Bear in mind that also when aligners are not work, not only have the teeth not moved to where they should have but they have relapsed slightly to a previous position. For every 1 hour of time missed, you may require 2-3 hours in order to ensure your treatment stays on track.

You should wear the current aligner an extra day or two and in the long run it wont make a big difference to the treatment time.