Invisalign chewies: what they are and how to use them

Invisalign chewies are small, soft cylinders of foam-like plastic you bite on for a few minutes after putting your aligners in. They press each aligner fully down over your teeth and attachments, closing any gap so the aligner can do its job. At Toothi in Edgware we suggest using them every time a new set goes in.

They look like a bit of packaging and they’re easy to forget. But a properly seated aligner is one of the few things in treatment you control yourself, and a chewie is the easiest way to get there. Here’s how to use them, for how long, and when they aren’t enough.

Chewies help each aligner sit fully and evenly on your teeth. An aligner works by being shaped slightly ahead of where your teeth are now, so it needs close contact with every tooth surface and every attachment to apply the planned pressure.

When you push an aligner on with your fingers, it usually clicks into place at the front but can sit a fraction proud at the back, or over a tooth that’s rotating. You probably won’t feel the difference. Biting gently on a chewie spreads even pressure across the aligner and helps it settle into those last fractions of a millimetre. A gap you can see between the edge of the aligner and the tip of a tooth is often called “lack of tracking”; seating the aligner properly every day is one of the habits that helps avoid it.

Most people do well with around five minutes of chewing each time the aligners go back in, and a bit longer for the first two or three days of a new set, when the aligner is at its tightest. Chewing for an hour doesn’t help. Gentle, even biting is what matters.

• ✓  New set day. This is when chewies matter most. A fresh aligner is designed to be a little ahead of your teeth, so it often needs help to seat completely.
• ✓  After every meal. Once you’ve brushed and put the aligners back in, a few minutes on the chewie gets them back to full contact.
• ✓  Before bed. A good habit, as night time is a long, uninterrupted stretch of wear.
• ✓  If a tooth feels loose in the aligner. Focus the chewie on that area and tell us at your next review, or message us sooner if it doesn’t improve.

None of this replaces the main rule: wear your aligners for around 22 hours a day. For why that number matters, see our guide to the Invisalign 22-hour rule.

If your plan includes attachments, the small tooth-coloured bumps bonded to some teeth, chewies are especially useful. The aligner has to wrap around the attachments precisely to grip, which makes it firmer to push on and more likely to sit slightly short over those teeth. Our guide to Invisalign attachments explains what they are and why we place them.

Rinse your chewie under cold water after use, let it air-dry, and keep it in a clean case rather than loose in a bag. It goes in your mouth several times a day, so treat it like a toothbrush. Replace it when it flattens, splits or starts to smell; many people get through a few over the course of treatment.

• ✓  Don’t bite hard. Firm, gentle pressure is enough. Clenching just makes teeth sore.
• ✓  Don’t share. Obvious, but chewies end up in family bathrooms.
• ✓  Don’t use them with the aligners out. They’re for seating aligners, not for chewing on their own.
• ✓  Don’t rely on them to fix a poor fit. If an aligner still won’t seat after a few days of chewies, tell us. It may mean a tooth has fallen behind, and the answer might be going back a set, waiting longer, or Invisalign refinements.

At Toothi London every Invisalign package is a fixed price: Invisalign Go Express £1,495, Invisalign Go £2,495 and Invisalign Go Plus £2,995. Each includes your iTero scan and ClinCheck plan, all reviews, refinement aligners if needed, removable and fixed retainers, an Airflow hygiene clean and Boutique whitening. Nothing is added on later. You can see the full breakdown on our Invisalign in Edgware page and our fees page. At every review we check how your aligners are seating, so if anything isn’t tracking we pick it up early.

• → Living with Invisalign: day-to-day tips
• → How long does Invisalign take?
• → Book a free Invisalign scan