Night Guards For Teeth Grinding
Protect Your Teeth from Wear with our Custom-Made Dental Night Guards
Teeth grinding or bruxism, often caused by stress, can make you clench or grind your teeth at night. The force exerted from grinding can damage your teeth from the excessive pressure and may lead to headaches and jaw pain. Night guards can help protect your teeth with a soft cushion between your upper and lower teeth, preventing wear and damage to the teeth.
At Lower Plenty Dental, we offer bruxism night guards to help safeguard your oral and overall health. Our night guards are custom-made for your teeth for a comfortable fit and a more restful sleep.
Why Do We Grind Our Teeth?
The most common reason for teeth grinding in children and adults is stress and anxiety. However, it’s difficult to determine the exact cause. Some other causes may include:
- Irregularities in the alignment of the upper and lower teeth when the bite alignment is not ideal.
- Sleep disorders, such as sleep apnoea or TMJ (temporomandibular joint disorder).
- Lifestyle factors, such as excessive alcohol consumption, smoking, and recreational drugs.
Teeth grinding can be characterised by headaches, facial pain, jaw stiffness, tooth sensitivity and chipped or worn enamel. Loose teeth and damaged dental restorations are also signs. Most people are unaware that they grind their teeth at night. It usually comes to light when someone from the family hears them.
At Lower Plenty Dental, we perform a thorough examination to identify and diagnose Bruxism. We examine the wear patterns on the enamel. If cusps are worn and flat or front teeth are chipped, it’s usually the first indication. Our dentist will discuss the symptoms, check your jaw joints for stiffness and mobility, and test the chewing muscles and jaw joints for abnormalities. Depending on our evaluation, we may decide to monitor the jaw joint (or TMJ) and will make another assessment at your next visit or make some suggestions to treat the grinding and clenching.
Night Guards For Teeth Grinding In Lower Plenty
Once your condition has been diagnosed accurately, our dentists will create a personalised treatment plan and a custom-fitted night guard or occlusal splint. This is a small soft plastic guard which sits on the lower teeth and prevents grinding or clenching from causing any further damage to your natural irreplaceable enamel. The splint may also make you less inclined to grind or clench as it acts like a barrier between your upper and lower teeth. Your teeth should only come together when you eat or chew, not when you’re clenching or grinding throughout the day. If you find yourself doing this, you might need to wear a splint during the day. Keep in mind there’s a higher chance of grinding or clenching at night, so it’s a good idea to work on breaking that habit!
Along with using an occlusal splint or night guard, we may also recommend:
- Resting your jaw, avoiding over-opening it, for example, being careful with yawning, eating apples, less yelling, etc.
- Learning how to relax and reduce the stress that you feel. Explore relaxation and stress management strategies to treat the underlying issue for long-term relief.
- We may prescribe medication for muscle relaxing and pain relief medication in advanced cases where pain and headaches are debilitating.
- Application of warm or cold packs to tender and stiff areas to soothe muscle pain and stiffness.