Lose or Break an Aligner? What to Do Next
Table of Contents
- What to Do If Your Aligner Breaks
- What to Do If You Lose It
- Why Should You Get Help?
- What Not To Do
- Storing & Handling Your Aligners
- Get A New Aligner Quickly
- Frequently Asked Questions
Have you ever lost or broken your aligners and worried that your treatment would lag and slow all the progress you had made on your smile? Sometimes, aligners can break due to mishandling.
If you break or lose an aligner tray, you should contact your orthodontist or aligner treatment provider immediately to have them replaced.
Use the next set of the aligner series as you wait for the appointment. If they don’t fit, use the previous series or backup set to ensure your teeth do not go back to the position they were before.
What to Do When You Break an Invisible Aligner?
When you first break an invisible aligner, you may worry that the accident will set your treatment back. Temporarily, that is true. How temporary, though, depends on how fast you act and how quickly you get back to see your orthodontists.
Here are the initial steps to take:
Call your dentist, orthodontist, or aligner treatment provider, and notify them that your aligner broke. If you are only a few days into the current trays, they may recommend that you continue with a previous set.
If it is less than a week since you started your new set, using the older ones while waiting for a new set would be ideal.
If the aligner has only a tiny crack, continue wearing it until you talk to your team. However, if it is split and you can bend it by applying pressure, discontinue its use. Don’t use glue to fix a split or cracked aligner. There are too many toxic chemicals in glues for them to go in your mouth. A split aligner may also have jagged edges that will damage your gums.
Do not discard the previous aligner set after you get your hands on your newest set. Just like your previous pair of eyeglasses or contact lenses, these just-outdated sets serve as your backup if you lose or break the current set.
If you lose or break your aligners, switch to the older version until you can contact your provider and find out what to do next.
Take these steps:
Check the old set and ensure the trays aren’t cracked or broken. If they’re damaged, don’t use them.
If they aren’t damaged, place them on your teeth and try the fit. If they don’t feel too uncomfortable, you can wear them while you wait.
If the trays are uncomfortable or won’t fit, consider the next set of aligners. If they fit onto your teeth easily, you can wear them while you wait.
Never try to push aligners on your teeth when they don’t fit properly. Only wear the old set or the next in the series when they don’t cause you intense pain.
This is only a temporary fix to your problem. You must contact your dental team and tell them what happened.
If you have no good options, you may need to be insistent about having your treatment professional take a look. If the orthodontist’s calendar is too full for your liking, ask the office scheduler if the doctor takes walk-ins or has a regular slot for emergency visits. Often, the scheduling will empathize with your situation and find a way to squeeze in an appointment for you. If you use a remote provider, ask to send photos.
If you can’t get a quick appointment with your orthodontist, visit the office anyway and take your broken aligners with you. Remind them of your situation and then ask if someone can take a look at your broken tray to evaluate if there is a quick fix that they can turn around.
What to Do If You Lose an Invisible Aligner?
When you realize that you have misplaced your aligners, take time to search for them carefully. The fact that they are clear makes it challenging to find, but you may find them after retracing your steps.
Contact your orthodontist’s office immediately. Your doctor will determine if you can move onto the next set or you need to reorder the set that you lost.
Many orthodontists advise that you keep your past aligners trays. That way, you can wear the previous set if you lose your current set as you wait for a new set.
Why should you get help?
If you’re wondering what to do if you lose or break an aligner, know this. You should get help from your dental team right away.
If you lose or break an aligner and don’t replace it, you could set back your treatment time frame. Your dental team may need to make new impressions of your teeth, create new aligners, and more. To ensure that your treatment stays on track, you should wear the right aligner as quickly as possible.
If you choose to wear an ill-fitting aligner while you wait, you could damage your teeth. Your treatment team designs your aligner treatment with slow, steady progress in mind. If you skip a step, you could force your teeth to move too quickly, and that could cause intense damage.
Wearing a broken aligner also isn’t smart. Depending on the damage, you could put soft tissues in your mouth in direct contact with cracks, tears, or rough edges. Sores in your mouth could slow down your healing, and they’re also very uncomfortable.
What not to do
It is tempting not to report the loss or break and proceed to the next aligner tray without informing your orthodontist, considering they will charge you for a replacement. However, this is not the best move. The aligner tray design moves your teeth systematically over time, and the movement is a complicated, time-consuming (and expensive!) process.
Moving to the next tray set while your teeth haven’t moved into position may work against your treatment plan. If you had only worn the previous aligners for a short time, the new aligners might not fit properly.
Report your lost or broken aligners as soon as possible to avoid delaying your treatment further.
Don’t assume that you can make any repairs. Maybe you can. But it’s also likely that you accidentally make some adjustment to the aligners that does not help your teeth in the long run. Don’t take the chance if the fix seems anything but obvious and easy.
How to store & handle your aligners
The best way to ensure that you don’t lose or break your aligners is to treat them with care. Never forget how much they cost and how much they can help your smile.
Take the following steps to protect your aligners:
Use a case. Whenever you take your aligners out of your mouth, put them in their official carrying case.
Take them out to eat and drink. Crunchy foods and hot drinks can warp or break your aligners. Always remove them before you’re consuming anything.
Clean them properly. Use a soft-bristled brush to clean your aligners. Don’t use things like harsh bristles or wires.
Don’t use your teeth like tools. Keep scissors and other cutting tools nearby, so you’re not tempted to open packages with your teeth.
Wear your aligners. It’s harder to lose your trays when they’re resting inside your mouth.
Protect your treatment plan. Store your old and new aligners in a safe space away from children and pets.
Why getting a new aligner quickly is important
Securing a new aligner quickly after you lose it or damage it is important for the moving process of your teeth. The last thing you want is to have your teeth shift back to their original position and set you back on your treatment.
If you lost or broke your aligners, this is not the end of your treatment plan. Talk to your aligner treatment provider to replace the trays and keep up with your treatment regimen.
Frequently asked questions
Call your provider and tell the team what happened. Explain that you don’t have your previous aligner tray, and ask what you should do next.
It depends. In general, people who move through aligner treatment wear their trays for the majority of the day. Every day you allow the aligners to stay off your teeth, you run the risk of setting back your treatment and its progress.
No. Aligners are custom-made for you and your teeth. You can’t use products made for someone else when yours are broken.