Night Guards
Night guards create a layer between your teeth to prevent the damage being caused by grinding and clenching. These things often go unnoticed because it happens while sleeping, but other patients wake up with symptoms of sore jaw muscles and/or headaches.
If our dentists or team suspect that you suffer from bruxism, we may recommend a night guard to protect your teeth from damage. Common signs of nighttime teeth clenching and grinding include:
- Chronic jaw pain, facial pain and ear pain
- Awakening with a tired or tight feeling in the jaw
- Frequent tension headaches and migraines
- Excessive tooth wear, leading to chipped, flattened, cracked or very worn teeth
- Extremely worn tooth enamel, exposing the inner layers of the tooth
- Indentations on the side of the tongue
- Increased tooth sensitivity
If you notice the signs of bruxism, you may benefit from a custom night guard. This night guard will be made to fit your smile comfortably and effectively.
At Ruby Family Dentistry this will require two appointments. At the first appointment we will quickly capture a digital scan of your teeth. We then send your scan to a professional laboratory for fabrication. At your second appointment we will try in the night guard, check for any necessary adjustments, and send you home with your new appliance!
We encourage all of our patients with night guards to bring them in at all hygiene visits so that we can clean and check our night guard regularly.