Night Guard
Clenching and grinding teeth has been classified as a neuromuscular disorder. Overactive muscles can cause chipping, fractures, excessive wear and loosening of the teeth. Some studies report that stress to the head and neck system, causing muscle tension and pain in the jaw joints, may be related to chronic jaw clenching and grinding, also known as Bruxism. Studies show that 50 to 75 percent of people suffer from Bruxism.
Our team may ask or tell you that you grind your teeth at night. Grinding has destructive effects on your teeth and gums. The pressure created by grinding can eventually wear your teeth down to nothing! Or, the person with whom you sleep may notice the sometimes loud and annoying sound nighttime teeth grinding can produce. Other warning signs that you may be grinding your teeth at night include headaches (sometimes severe) and jaw pain when you wake up in the morning.
Luckily, modern dentistry is able to provide mouth guards to ease the clenching, grinding, and physical destruction of your teeth through Bruxism with use of custom-fitted appliances.
Athletic Mouth Guards
The National Youth Sports Foundation estimates that more than 5 million teeth are knocked out each year in sporting activities. If that isn’t shocking enough, did you know that the total rehabilitation cost for a single knocked-out tooth is more than 20 times the preventative cost for a custom-laminated, professional-grade mouthguard?
Dental injuries can be significantly reduced in children, teenagers and adults involved in the following sports when custom fabricated mouthguards are used: soccer, volleyball, baseball, football, softball, rollerblading, skateboarding, martial arts, boxing, hockey, kickboxing and mountain biking. Why not use the stocked or “boil and bite” mouthguard typically found at sporting goods stores? We believe that any mouthguard is better than no mouthguard! However, these mouthguards do not fit as accurately as custom fabricated types so they are often less comfortable and frequently interfere with the athletes breathing and speaking ability.
Our PlaySafe® Mouthgaurds offer 3 times the protection of over-the-counter brands, are available in 6 levels of protection based on the sport involved, and can be customized to match team colors.