Say you need to adjust your wonky teeth as an adult, and your orthodontist sets you up with Invisalign (or competitors ClearCorrect or Orthoclear). They’ll hand you your clear plastic aligners, a case or two, and maybe some Retainer-Brite. But you should also buy these:

Every time you eat, you’ll take out your aligners, and then you’ll brush your teeth before you put them back in. You’ll be brushing in restaurants, your workplace, maybe even bars. You need a portable tooth-brushing kit that fits in your purse or coat pocket.

Compact toothbrush: You could use a normal toothbrush, but that’ll double the size of your carrying case. Get a folding toothbrush , or whatever you’d call these brushes . Get soft bristles so you don’t overbrush.

Tiny toothpaste: Grab some of those airport-sized toothpastes. I buy Sensodyne by the 6-pack .

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Cleaning wipes: To disinfect your aligners. Tbh I don’t use them much, I just rinse my aligners, maybe that’s gross. Buy a box .

Lip balm: Your lips will dry out.

Your lips are dry, so you apply a little something soothing from a tube or a tiny jar or one of…

Carrying pouch: You could get this ugly-ass plastic case , or you could get a discreet cloth pouch. A pencil case is a little too narrow for your aligner case, and most makeup bags are too big. I use a perfect, but discontinued, cotton MUJI pouch. The best alternatives I’ve found are this MUJI nylon pouch or this HaloVa cotton pouch .

Ask your orthodontist for freebies on all of the dental stuff. You’re paying like two thousand bucks, they honestly should be handing you a complete ready-made travel kit.

Floss: You’re always supposed to floss, but on Invisalign, you’re really supposed to floss. You’re covering up your teeth all day, isolating them from your naturally cleansing spit, so you really need to clean those suckers out. You could also get tiny travel flosses for your carry case, but who has the time to floss twice a day?

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Extra aligner case: Your Invisalign comes with two cases: one for your current set of aligners, one for your last set (in case you lose or break your current ones). But you’ll use one of those cases in your travel kit, so get a third for your bathroom cabinet. They come in colors.

Retainer Brite: To keep your Invisalign invisible. (Which it really is. No one will notice your aligners. They’ll just notice that you carry a little pouch to the bathroom all the time.) You could use them every night or once a week. Buy a box.

Cleaning case: Gives your aligners more room to soak in the Retainer Brite. Optional. Sold as a denture bath .

Aligner seaters: Supposedly gnawing on these rubber tubes, aka “chewies,” helps fit your aligners more tightly. Use them the first couple nights of each new aligner set. Only buy the unscented kind .

Tylenol: Your teeth might hurt the first day of each new aligner. Don’t take Ibuprofen (Advil or Motrin) or Naproxen (Aleve). They’re anti-inflammatories, which slow down the tooth-shifting process . Acetaminophen (Tylenol) works great though. Put in your new aligners before bed, pop two Tylenol, and let that first pain pass in the night.

If you’re considering Invisalign, don’t let all this scare you off! Invisalign is only a small and steady pain in the ass, and it’s still easier and more pleasant than braces (much less a chronic medical condition). I’ll get into the whole process in a later post.