Recycling Or Trash: What Can You Do With Old Invisalign Trays?
You need orthodontic treatment to straighten your teeth, and therefore improve your bite pattern, yet you're someone who is conscious about their impact on the environment. As such, you might be a little hesitant to use Invisalign, even though your orthodontist strongly recommends clear aligners as your most appropriate treatment method. But what can you do with all those plastic aligner trays that your treatment will produce?
The Number of Trays
Yes, Invisalign trays are made of plastic (or thermoplastic, to be precise)—and yes, your treatment will require a considerable number of trays. The exact number varies, but consider this: the average treatment time is 13.5 months (just over 58 weeks), and you may be advised to change your trays weekly. As such, your treatment could result in 58 old aligner trays. Is it more environmentally responsible to ask for traditional metal braces?
Metal Braces
Traditional metal braces may be an option in your case, but they're a far less user-friendly experience. They're less comfortable than customized transparent aligners, and you will require ongoing appointments to have your braces adjusted. They're also infinitely more conspicuous than Invisalign trays—which are also called invisible braces. Although traditional braces require less raw material than a series of trays, they don't compare to Invisalign in terms of patient satisfaction, or even effectiveness of treatment. Ideally, you could use Invisalign with the confidence that your thermoplastic trays won't go to waste. So should you just recycle them?
A Complex Mixture
Invisalign trays are a complex mixture of plastics, which is required to balance the required rigidity of each tray (to ensure that teeth are repositioned) while also remaining relatively flexible (for your comfort) and still being transparent (for the aesthetics of your smile). This complex mixture of plastics means that you can't simply mix your used aligner trays in with your household recycling. Instead, you should talk to your orthodontist.
Specialist Recycling
Many orthodontic clinics accept old aligners for specialist recycling. It's really that simple. You simply need to retain your old trays at home until you attend your next follow-up appointment to check your progress. The trays should be tightly sealed in a bag (they've been in your mouth, and can be classified as medical waste), and handed over to the staff at the clinic. They'll be collected by a specialist recycling company who will sterilize your trays, and then turn that thermoplastic into new plastic, ready for reuse.
So if the potential environmental implications of Invisalign have made you hesitant to use this treatment method, think again. As long as your orthodontist accepts old trays, your aligners can have a new purpose after they've helped correct your bite.
For more info about Invisalign, contact a local company.
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