What Are Night Guards and How Can They Help?

A dentist or orthodontist will use night guards to prevent people from damaging their teeth if they have a condition known as bruxism. Also known as teeth grinding, bruxism affects a large portion of adults in the United States according to the American Dental Association, as well as the California Dental Association.

It is very common for people to wake up experiencing a sore jaw, dull headache or tooth pain due to the habit of bruxism. Bruxism is a common result of stress and can end up leading to severely damaged teeth. The good news is that there is a very easy way to prevent patients from damaging the teeth and grinding teeth at night.

Alleviating The Effects of Bruxism

There are numerous ways an orthodontist, can work to alleviate the effects of bruxism. One of the most effective, and also most cost-effective, is to wear a night guard. A night guard is an appliance that one wears while sleeping and may be available without a prescription through most pharmacies. However, it is much healthier to use a night guard under a prescription, which will be made custom order to fit the patient's particular needs.

By preventing the patient from being able to grind their teeth, the device helps to prevent damage to the teeth enamel, alleviates symptoms like jaw pain, headaches and tooth pain. Night guards will also eventually help save the patient money by avoiding excessive damage to the teeth.

Types of Night Guard Available

As with most things, there are a variety of different night guards available over the counter and without a prescription. There is nothing wrong with getting a device from the local pharmacy, as long as it is able to meet the needs that the patient has and performs the job of preventing bruxism. However, it is recommended by dentists and orthodontists that a patient has one which is prescribed to the dentist office.

Guards of this type tend to be of a higher quality, as well as having a superior fit because they are made in a special laboratory based on your particular needs. Patients who have bruxism, or the symptoms of bruxism, are advised to schedule an appointment with our office, in order to be diagnosed and then get a prescription device which will help them reduce teeth grinding damage.

Made to Order

We create night guards based on a custom impression of the patient's mouth. We then send this impression out to a laboratory which creates the night guard custom fitted to that particular patient's needs and mouth.  It is not hard to imagine that this custom type of device offers a significantly higher quality and fits better into the mouth it was custom designed for. In the long run, the main function of a guard is to prevent the surfaces of the teeth from grinding together causing the teeth to chip, crack, and strain the jaw muscles. To have one created for you, call and schedule an appointment today.