The aligner journey has come with many learning curves, and as a Millennial, I was not prepared for this much tech. This isn’t me complaining, just preparing to offer you tips and tricks for your own straighter smile adventure. One bit of technology that has been helpful is Dental Monitoring.

I love how it works, even though I’ve had to figure out some things in the process.

If you need tips for getting a better scan with Dental Monitoring, here are some tricks I’ve come to discover:

• Make sure your aligners are fully on: To do so, try using chewies or biting down on a bath towel. This will help you to get the broadest coverage… Yes, I know. It sounds weird, but it’s super effective in putting pressure down everywhere.
• Smile with the cheek retractors in: It’ll bring more light into the mouth, which is necessary for a proper scan. The better the lighting, the better the imaging to help determine how your aligners are working properly for your smile.
• Don’t worry about perfect scans: They’ll let you know if it needs to be retaken. Just focus on getting an accurate reading to the best of your ability. And if it does need retaking, don’t fret! You’re still learning the process.
• Visualize something that is the “gap”: AKA, something that you can consistently do so that your “open mouth” scans are consistent. Personally, I visualize biting a grape with my front teeth. Because I was doing too small a window before, this helps to give me a better gauge for how to hold my mouth open just the right amount. Even if it’s not a grape you imagine, anything will help! Use your imagination.
• Use your thumbs: To get a better grip while Dental Monitoring, use your thumbs on the sides of the cheek retractors to hold out and aim for steadiness. This gives you so much more leverage and stability, which is necessary for a good photo.

The journey to a straighter smile has been full of new adventures, but as always, I’m more than happy to share this with you in the hopes it’ll help.

If you’ve missed my previous blog posts about the aligner journey, be sure to check them out and stay tuned for my upcoming blogs with more tips and tricks!

If you’re anywhere near the Northern VA area, check out Orthodontics By Crutchfield for your own aligner journey.