Many family orthodontists have been prescribing the use of Invisalign to their patients because of the ease of use, the improved health of the teeth during use and because many patients don't want the look or discomfort of wire braces. If you have just been given the opportunity to beautify your smile using the Invisalign treatment, you may experience the hearth-thumping issue of not being able to get the tray off of your teeth the first few times. Here, you will learn a few tips that can help you get the tray out without all of the anxiety that can come when you think you will be stuck wearing the tray forever.

Keep Calm

Your heart may start racing and your hands shaking, but keep calm! There is no reason to get panicked. The tray will come out. If you begin to feel overwhelmed, take a minute to regroup and get back to it when you are calm and collected.

Get Heated

No, this doesn't mean to get mad – it means to heat your mouth up a bit. Warming the tray will help it slide off of your teeth much easier. Swish some very warm water in your mouth for thirty seconds to make the tray more flexible and easy to remove.

Back Off

These trays come off easier if you start by getting the back off first. Grip the tray at the molars and pull downward. The tray will come off of the molars more easily in most cases because the back teeth are less misaligned than the front. The more out of alignment the teeth are, the more difficult the tray will be to remove.

Get a Grip

If your fingers just won't grip onto the tray, improve your grip. There is a small tool that orthodontists use to remove the trays in one quick step. An aligner hook, also known as an outie, can be purchased at your local pharmacy and will make removing your tray very easy. It just grips the top lip of the tray and slides it off of your molars quickly so that you can remove it in seconds.

If you don't have an outie at the moment, improve the grip by gripping the tray with a paper towel, or you can wear latex gloves. Grip at the molars and work your way forward slowly loosening the fit all the way until it pops off.

If you continue to have troubles removing your Invisalign tray, talk with your orthodontist. He or she may be able to provide you with further advice to make the process easier and less stressful for you.