Night Guards
The human jaw can exert over a hundred pounds of biting pressure. This force is helpful when it comes to eating, but if this pressure is applied directly to your teeth, it can cause severe issues to your oral health. We also refer to jaw clenching or teeth clenching as bruxism. Excessively clenching your teeth can cause substantial damage to the structure of your teeth. Our dental team wants to ensure your teeth are as strong as can be, which is why we offer a night guard to solve the issue of bruxism along with our general dentistry services.
If you’re unsure if you have bruxism or still wondering what bruxism is, here are a few more details. Bruxism is a condition that involves grinding teeth, clenching your jaw, or gnashing your teeth. You may clench your teeth during the day or night while you sleep without even noticing it. Excessive teeth grinding can lead to jaw or facial pain from stress on the jaw joints. This jaw joint pain can often be a sign of temporomandibular joint disorder (TMD/TMJ). During the day, if you notice you are clenching your teeth, it may be easy to ease up your pressure, but during the night, when you are unaware you’re clenching your teeth, you may need a sleep mouth guard.
Night Guard for Bruxism - Teeth Grinding
Bruxism treatment includes using a dental night guard. A mouth for grinding teeth at night will help relieve some of the pressure you put on your teeth. Teeth grinding guards are soft plastic oral appliances that keep your teeth from touching while sleeping. While there are mouthguards that you can get from sports supply stores, nothing can compare to the custom night guard our dental office can supply you with.
Here at Lytle Family Dentistry, we know everyone is unique, and what works for some people may not work for everyone. This is why we create custom nightguards for our clients. Along with saving your teeth structure, nightguards have also been known to help you snore less and breathe better.
How To Stop Grinding Teeth
Our number one recommendation for stopping teeth grinding is to get a mouth guard. This is the best and most effective form of bruxism treatment. We sometimes get the question of how to stop grinding teeth in sleep naturally. Before we give you tips on how to stop grinding your teeth naturally, it is important to understand why you may be grinding your teeth at night.
Teeth grinding can often stem from stress and anxiety. You may not even realize you are grinding your teeth or that you are stressed. Here are some other approaches that may help relieve bruxism:
- Stress or anxiety management
- Medication for muscle relaxants
- Behavior change
- Massage your jaw muscles
While these remedies may not permanently soothe your bruxism, they are some good measures to take if you are unable to get a night guard. If you have been told you grind your teeth in your sleep or feel like you have extreme jaw tension, give our office a call to schedule an appointment in the Lytle, TX area.
