Ahh, some of the vices patients often won’t avoid. As adults often enjoy an occasional cigarette or a glass of wine, they will wonder if it’s even possible to do so while wearing clear aligners. After all, they won’t want to damage the investment they’re making in their smile. You may like to pre-empt your patient’s common questions regarding smoking and drinking.
Can I Smoke with Clear Aligners?
It’s not recommended that patients smoke while wearing clear aligners. Remove them first. When smoking with clear aligners in, nicotine will stain them and make them look yellow or brown, which isn't a great look for anyone! Additionally, nicotine gets into the crevices of the plastic, mixes with saliva, and can create an unpleasant odour. That said, if you must smoke during treatment, remove your aligners first!

Can I Vape with Clear Aligners?
The same rules apply for vaping as they do for smoking – remove your aligners before taking a puff! The vapor can stick to the plastic of the clear aligner just like smoke does and discolour it. Furthermore, as vaping is still a new trend there's no research available on what kind of effect it could have on treatment outcomes. So just to be safe—remove those aligners before taking a vape break!
What Should I Do if my Clear Aligner Is Stained from Smoking?
If patient’s accidentally forget to remove their aligner before smoking or vaping and it's now stained yellow or brown, don't panic! It's possible to get rid of minor surface stains but more severe stains may require replacing the tray entirely.
Can I Drink Alcohol with Clear Aligners?
Many alcoholic drinks are highly sugary and use food colour which when mixed with alcohol has been known stain clear braces. This extended to non-alcoholic sugary and coloured beverages. As long as patients are mindful about what type of drinks they’re consuming while wearing clear aligners it shouldn't be an issue (just don’t drink too much!). Remind patients to clean their teeth before bed.
Conclusion
It's important for patients to know how that smoking and drinking affects clear aligners. To maintain good oral hygiene during treatment and keep the appearance of their clear aligners pristine, activities like smoking/vaping or drinking sugary beverages with them in place should be avoided. To remove any doubt, they should simply take them out first then they can feel free to enjoy themselves responsibly without worrying about damaging those pearly whites underneath!
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