Can I play Water Sports whilst wearing Invisalign?
The answer is a resounding YES.
Yes, you can do water sports whilst wearing Invisalign! And although you could remove them, I'd keep them on.
Personal experience
I've done all kinds of water sports in my life. Swimming, diving, snorkelling, surfing, kayaking, rafting, white water rafting, water aerobics, water volleyball, canoeing, jetskiing, parasailing, rowing, paddle-boarding, wind-surfing... You get the picture.
Since starting my Invisalign treatment, I've done about 9 of those water sports. And throughout all of the water-related activities I've done during my Invisalign treatment, I've kept my aligners on. I've never had any problems. I'd keep them on for any future water sports.
My Verdict
Invisalign braces were specifically created in order to be super adaptable for most, if not any, lifestyles.
You can take the aligners in and out whenever you please. They pose virtually no hazard to the insides of your mouth (unlike traditional metal braces). In fact, I like to think of my Invisalign aligners as a kind of mouth-guard whenever I play sports. My teeth are snugly secure inside the trays and they feel safer that way.
Whether you remove your aligners or not comes down to personal preference. Quite honestly, having your aligners in doesn't affect anything, from balance in basketball to competitive rowing on a lake. I've never removed my aligners specifically for a sport, whether that be swimming, badminton, volleyball, surfing, or whatever.
Since you're meant to wear your trays for 22+ hours a day, my verdict is that if you're going to be frolicking in water for hours on end, just keep those babies IN!
P. S. Beware of the 'ick'
By ick, I mean, beware of your aligners getting really, grossly, grimly icky after doing any kind of water sports.
Water sports that involve going beneath water at any point - e.g. snorkelling, diving, surfing or white water rafting - means that water WILL enter your mouth. Chlorinated water, salty seawater and lake/river water WILL get trapped in your aligners. It WILL most likely taste like utter crap. But the braces themselves will be no less effective. Just make sure you rinse them out as fast as possible after the activity. Soak them in anti-bacterial or alcohol solution for a little while afterwards to kill all the germs, then give them a good scrub.
