TMJ & Night Guards
Excessive jaw clenching and bruxism can accelerate tooth and jaw deterioration. Meanwhile, snoring can impact the quality of your own sleep and that of those around you. To help our patients most comfortably avoid this, we customize night guards to their bite. One type of night guard acts as a cushion between the top and bottom dental arches while the other creates more space between the front teeth to prevent the top and lower jaw from touching. Snore prevention mouth pieces look similar, but instead of acting as a cushion or spacer, they keep the lower jaw forward, thereby preventing pressure on the larynx.
What are the causes of teeth grinding?
Stress or anxiety
Obstructive sleep apnea
Certain medications or recreational drugs
TMD (Temporomandibular Joint Dysfunction) is a condition that can be due to a number of factors, including clenching or grinding habits or sometimes from an unbalanced bite.
What are the signs of TMD?
- Clicking, Cracking, or "Popping" in the jaw joint
- Pain in the jaw joint (opening, closing or both)
- Headaches
- Ringing ears
- Inability to open wide
- Sore Jaw muscles (commonly in the morning)
- Grinding/Clenching teeth
Commonly, patients with TMD will report recent sources of stress such as school, job, family or relationship-related issues. Grinding or clenching of the teeth is referred to as bruxism during the day or while you sleep and a conservative form of treatment for this is to wear a nightguard. Your dentist can prescribe the appropriate nightguard to wear and have it fitted properly for you. This simple treatment often corrects the problem but other treatment options are available if not.
It is also possible that the source of TMD is not from the teeth and a referral to a specialist may be indicated.