Patient guides
Aftercare and instructions
The written instructions given to patients, published openly so they are always to hand. If anything here differs from the advice given for your own treatment, follow your own advice and call the practice.
Instructions
Invisalign: how to wear and care for your aligners
Wear each set of aligners for 22 hours a day, removing them only to eat, to drink anything other than water, and to clean your teeth. Aligners only move teeth while they are in.
Retainer care
Retainers hold the result of orthodontic treatment. Teeth continue to move throughout life, so retention is long-term — wear your retainers as instructed and have fixed retainers checked at every review.
Looking after composite bonding
Composite bonding is durable but not indestructible. It stains more readily than enamel, chips under heavy load, and benefits from periodic repolishing — usually annually — to keep its surface finish.
Enlighten whitening: your complete protocol
Wear your Enlighten trays with a thin ribbon of gel every night for fourteen consecutive nights, follow the white diet throughout, then attend the in-practice finishing appointment. Consistency across the full fourteen nights is what produces the B1 result.
Aftercare
After implant surgery
For the first 24 hours, do not rinse, spit forcefully or disturb the site. Take pain relief before the anaesthetic wears off, keep the area clean from the day after, and expect swelling to peak at around 48 to 72 hours.
After a sinus lift or bone graft
Follow the standard implant aftercare, and in addition protect the sinus: do not blow your nose, use straws, or fly for ten days, and sneeze with your mouth open. Pressure changes displace the graft while it is settling.
After a tooth extraction
Bite firmly on the gauze for 20 to 30 minutes, avoid rinsing or spitting for the first 24 hours, and do not smoke or vape. The clot in the socket is what heals the site — protecting it is the whole task.
General instructions after treatment
Wait until the numbness has fully worn off before eating, avoid hot drinks in the meantime, and expect some sensitivity for a few days after most restorative work. Anything that feels high when you bite should be adjusted rather than tolerated.
Prevention
Consultation
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