Smoking with Aligners? Here’s What You Should Know
Considering the average daily wear-time for clear aligners is 20-22 hrs, we know that there are folks who smoke, and do so with their clear aligners in. That being said, it’s important to also note how doing so puts them not only at risk for cavities, but it also stains their aligners! It can be somewhat embarrassing to walk around with brown or yellow stained aligners for the next 7 days (thank goodness for masks)!
That being said, here are some suggestions I have given patients in the past for preserving their aligners / preventing stains.
Staining
In order to prevent yellowing of your aligners and your teeth, the best tip I have is to remove your aligners when you smoke. It’s annoying and lowkey laborious, I know. When you smoke with clear aligners in, the smoke coming in and out of your mouth can get stuck in between your teeth and aligners, causing the staining.
The hard truth is that the ingredients involved in smoking cigarettes or vapes, such as tobacco, tar, and nicotine, inevitably cause staining (similar to highly pigmented foods like wine, coffee, tea, mustard, curry, etc.). Tar and nicotine can get trapped in the tray and it basically becomes a staining tray!
On the upside, I have heard that this can be mitigated by using e-cigarettes. Although the nicotine still present in e-cigarettes can cause staining, cigarettes tend to have both tar and nicotine. Both stain, but in theory, one stains your teeth less.
Cavity prevention
In terms of cavity prevention, brushing your teeth after a smoke break is your best bet. The reason being there is a considerable risk of tiny bits of tar and tobacco getting trapped between the teeth and aligners, which serves as a potential tooth decay tray.
If brushing is too big of an ask, I’ve recommended patients do a quick floss to remove any residual tar or tobacco, swish vigorously with water, and then "wipe" their teeth with a napkin.
Cleaning
Lastly, I always recommended that patients be diligent about cleaning their aligners. This can be made more convenient with cleansing tablets, but it’s important in general to mitigate staining from the tar and nicotine. Daily cleaning will prevent heavy accumulation of residual smoking stains on your aligner trays; realistically, it won’t remove or prevent discoloration entirely.
Hopefully this post provided a little bit more information behind the precautions you should take if you choose to smoke with your clear aligners in.
Best of luck with your clear aligner journey!
Jannet
