SmartTrack material sloughing off?

[lilone]

Is anyone else having a problem with the new material flaking off on contact areas? I clench my teeth since starting Invisalign and the material sloughs off in the areas that contact. It is getting quite uncomfortable because it is scratching my tongue and lips. I also keep swallowing little flakes which make me cough.

Is anyone else experiencing this? Have you had any luck smoothing the edges? I tried smoothing areas down with a nail file but that only took another layer off and made it worse. If it is this annoying at day 5 of the aligner, I wonder what day 14 will be like!?

[lilone]

I managed to get the biggest pieces off with nail clippers. These are the ones that were cutting me so at least I was able to get rid of them. What is left just feels annoying but is do-able. I'm wondering if a lint shaver might work on plastic shavings?

Is this a common problem with the new material?

[DrJasonKTam]

This isn't something we've heard from our patients yet, but it is still in the first couple of months of use.

I am going to be seeing the head engineer at Align this Friday, so I will definitely mention something and see if there is any insight.

Hope it stays bearable!

[DrJasonKTam]

Spoke with the head engineer for Align today, John Morton, and he did tell me that there has been a soft layer on the surface of the aligners that has been rubbing off. This is a spongy layer for bite comfort that does not have any effect on the activity of the aligner. He advised that the best thing to do is to try to smooth them down with a file, but despite knowing that there would be some areas that slough off, this minor drawback is only a small one compared to the benefits of SmartTrack.

Hope everything is feeling ok!

[lilone]

Thanks so much for asking. It's good to know that they are aware and that it is not going to affect the aligner. I hope they decide to stop adding the bite comfort layer since any additional comfort it adds is negated by the rough feeling of the sloughing off. I would suggest to anyone experiencing this to clip the large pieces with a nail clipper but do not file afterward as it just serves to rough up the material more.

[help777]

I'm concerned because I'm having the same issues with the invisalign material flaking off. I probably also end up swallowing most of them. Is this safe? Is it toxic? Thank you!

[whiteswan]

There is nothing to worry about, safety wise. Comfort wise, it is a little more of a problem. The flaking will likely go away as your bite corrects. Some people don't even get it so I think it is just related to the way your teeth hit.

[DrJasonKTam]

The material is BPA-free.

Sloughing off is from grinding of the teeth. The majority of our patients do not have this issue, but as the bite changes, grinding may occur because your teeth do not "know" where they should be biting.