Can I find out if my teen is wearing their aligners?

- March 06, 2020

Due to the technological improvements more and more teens are using Invisalign to straighten their teeth.

In the age of social media, a lot of teens would rather not have braces. Although Invisalign teen is a great option, compliance has to be monitored closely at home. If you’re worried about whether your teen is wearing their aligners, here’s how to tell.

How to Tell if Your Teen is Wearing Their Aligners

Patient compliance is vital to Invisalign success. Ideally, your teen should wear their aligners 22 hours daily for effective treatment.

Keep in mind that the teen product (Invisalign Teen) has a feature called a ‘Compliance Indicator’ or simply, The Blue Dot. As your teen wears his or her aligner, the dot should fade over time from blue to clear. This permits you, your teen, and their orthodontist to obtain a visual cue of approximate wear duration.

Your orthodontist will also be able to tell when you bring your teen to the clinic for checkups. If he or she is progressing at the appropriate rate, it will be apparent that they’ve been diligent about wearing the appliance as much as possible.

In the event that progress is lagging, this could indicate that he or she hasn’t been wearing them as frequently as they should have been. If we discover treatment is way behind, we can assume it is the lack of wearing aligners as recommended.

It can be easy to become complacent about your teenager’s orthodontic care once it is underway. However, you should try remain involved. Remind your teen to replace the aligners after meals, cleaning teeth and after any sport activities. Encourage your teen to keep the aligners safe in their protective case when they are not being worn. This is to prevent damage to (or loss of) the aligners and thereby avoid any delays to treatment.

Invisalign Teen gives your teenager a beautiful smile without metal braces. Nevertheless, compliance is crucial to ensure a successful treatment. Fortunately, you can identify whether your teen is wearing their retainers. Try to find ways to help him or her to remember to wear their aligners during treatment for best results.