We do not recommend cleaning your Invisalign trays with toothpaste because it can be too abrasive and encourage bacterial build up. A better alternative wouldcleaning your Invisalign trays be a mild dish soap or even a wet soft toothbrush with plain water.
But don't forget that soaking the aligners with a cleansing tablet is still recommended even with periodic brushing of the trays.
Toothpaste isn't the best cleaning option
We do not recommend brushing your Invisalign trays with toothpaste because it often contains abrasives which can cause micro scratches in the aligner.
Consequence of causing micro scratches: Scratches in the aligner will make it more prone to trapping food, stains, and bacteria. That will actually make the trays get dirty faster which is counterintuitive since toothpaste is supposed to help clean it!
Why there are abrasives in toothpaste: The vast majority of toothpastes contain abrasives which are used to whiten your teeth by removing stains. It needs to have a certain amount of grit, roughness, and texture for it to effectively brush off stains. Without abrasives, the toothpastes would not clean as well nor would they whiten your teeth.
Examples of toothpaste abrasives:
Silica and hydrated silica
Calcium carbonate
Mica
Baking soda
Titanium dioxide
You'd be hard-pressed to find a toothpaste without any of the abrasives on the ingredient list. They're typically located on the "inactive ingredient" section.
The image above shows the label for one of the Sensodyne pronamel toothpastes. As you can see, it contains hydrated silica and titanium dioxide.
Mild dish detergent is preferred
Rather than using toothpaste, a mild dish soap is a better option for cleaning Invisalign trays because it doesn't contain abrasives.
If you compare the toothpaste you have at home vs your dish soap, you'll notice that the dish soap is in liquid form and very smooth. Toothpaste on the other hand is solid and will have a semi-gritty texture depending on how much abrasives it has.
Basically, since the detergent is non-abrasive it is safer to use on the aligner trays since it won't scratch them!
Cleansing tablets work well for Invisalign trays
Cleansing tablets work very effectively at keeping your Invisalign trays clean. That is the reason why they provide you with a sample of their Invisalign Cleaning Crystals.
How to use Invisalign cleaning crystals:
Rinse off aligners under cool tap water.
Place aligners into a cup or bowl.
Fill with enough water to submerge the trays.
Dispense cleaning crystals into the solution.
Agitate for 15-20 seconds.
Let the solution sit for 15 minutes.
Rinse off trays and you're ready to go!
The cleaning crystals can be purchased directly from Invisalign or you can even find them on Amazon. However, they are on the pricier side if we're to be honest.
As an alternative, other retainer/denture/aligner cleaning crystals will work. One of our favorites is the M3 naturals retainer cleaner.
How often to use tablets/crystals: We would clean them with this method at least once a week, although it's not a bad idea to do it 2-3x per week if you really want them squeaky clean!
Takeaway
Our dentists in Long island City prefer to use a mild dish soap rather than toothpaste to clean Invisalign trays because it is less abrasive. We also recommend coupling that with a 2-3x weekly cleaning with one of the cleansing tablets for best results. At least that is what we tell all of our patients who are undergoing Invisalign treatment with us.
