As student athletes return for another year of early morning practices and Friday night football games, it’s also time to talk about the usefulness of mouth guards - for kids and adults!
Wearing a mouthguard while playing high contact sports is the easiest and most effective way to avoid losing or fracturing a tooth. The ADA estimates that faceguards and mouth guards prevent approximately 200,000 injuries each year.
In addition to mouth guards for contact sports and high-contact activities, dentists recommend mouth guards for many different reasons. You might need one if you:
Snore.
Grind or clench your teeth (bruxism).
Have obstructive sleep apnea.
Have TMJ disorder.
Mouth guards for Snoring and OSA
If your doctor has diagnosed you with OSA, the gold standard for treating it is a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machine. But, for various reasons, CPAP may not be the best option for many patients. Another increasingly common option is oral appliance therapy (a device similar to a mouth guard used by athletes), provided by a dentist. Many dentists (including Smile New Braunfels) are now including dental sleep medicine treatment in their specialties, which focuses on the use of oral appliances to treat snoring and OSA. For patients with mild to moderate obstructive sleep apnea, oral appliance therapy, as provided by a dentist, can help keep the airway open during sleep.
These custom-fitted sleep apnea appliances can hold the airway open by bringing the lower jaw slightly forward, or can hold the tongue, preventing it from falling backwards during sleep, causing airway obstruction. They can also do both of these actions simultaneously so you can breathe better while you sleep. If your doctor decides that you are a good candidate for an oral airway device, the process is quite simple. An impression of your teeth will be made. The dentist will make the device and call you back for a fitting. You will also be given a morning repositioner to realign your bite after the appliance is removed.
Mouth Guards for Clenching and Grinding
If you have jaw pain, worn down teeth, headaches, and tiredness, you may be grinding your teeth or clenching your jaw at night. Clenching and grinding can lead to tooth loss, inflammation of gums, jaw pain, and more. A night guard can help protect your teeth from further damage. A custom-fitted mouthguard is more comfortable than an store-bought version (so you'll be more likely to wear it). The team at Smile New Braunfels can develop a custom-made mouth guard for you that will prevent you from clinching and grinding your teeth at night.
Mouth Guards for TMJ
The term TMJ refers to the Temporo-Mandibular joint, also known as the joint that attaches your jaw to your skull. It is also the joint you use to open and close your mouth, as well as speak and chew. TMJ disorders cause symptoms such as jaw pain, difficulty chewing, and “clicking” and “locking” when you open and close your mouth, speak, or chew food.
TMJ disorders may result from:
Injury to the teeth or jaw.
A misalignment of the teeth or jaw.
Malocclusions that produce orthodontic problems in the teeth and jaw.
A mouthguard is an important tool to help treat TMJ disorders. It can prevent further wear and tear on your teeth by preventing you from clenching and grinding your teeth, which many people may be doing unconsciously! The repetition of tooth grinding can cause your teeth to shift further from their proper positions, and for the jawbone to become more misaligned over time. To correct this, the mouth guard also acts as a type of orthodontic device. It can gradually align your jaw to the proper position in order to correct the improper bite that may be exacerbating your TMJ.
Mouth Guard Options
If your dentist thinks you need a mouth guard for sports protection, snoring, or bruxism, there are two main different options: store-bought or custom-made.
Store-bought: Store-bought mouth guards come in two types: Stock (worn as-is, right out of the box) and boil-and-bite (somewhat customizable). Store-bought guards are cheaper, but they’re not as effective as custom-made mouth guards for protection against teeth grinding or sports-related injuries. They’re also not appropriate for treating sleep apnea. Many people tend to be inconsistent about their mouth guard usage due to the discomfort of a non-custom fit.
Custom-made: A dentist will use impressions of your teeth to create this type of mouth guard. Because they’re designed specifically to fit your teeth, many people feel them much more comfortable than store-bought versions. Custom-made mouth guards also provide the most effective protection against bruxism (clenching and grinding) and sports-related trauma. Custom mouth guards are also required to treat sleep apnea. You can wear them with or without a CPAP machine. Although custom-made mouth guards tend to cost a little more, they last longer compared to store-bought guards. They may also be covered by your dental or health insurance.
If you have symptoms of bruxism, TMJ or sleep apnea, a mouth guard could be a good option for you. Whether it’s preventing additional damage to your teeth or getting a better night’s sleep, a custom-fitted mouth guard could be just what you need. Schedule an appointment with Dr. Peck today!
