Night Guard for Teeth Grinding Patients in Dentistry

Night Guard for Teeth Grinding Patients in Dentistry – In dental care, the focus often lies on brightening smiles and ensuring oral health. However, an unseen battle occurs during the quiet hours of the night—one that many people face but few fully understand. Night guards, also known as occlusal splints or mouth guards, serve as a vital line of defense against the damaging effects of teeth grinding (bruxism) and jaw clenching. These custom-fitted appliances not only protect your patients’ teeth from wear and tear but also alleviate their discomfort and reduce the risk of long-term dental issues. In the following article, we will discuss night guards for teeth grinding patients in dentistry and how your patients can benefit from them. 

What is a Mouth Guard (Night Guard)?

A night guard is a special thermoplastic protective appliance that is worn over the teeth while sleeping. It aims to shield teeth against bruxism effects which is the involuntary grinding or clenching of teeth that normally happens at night. This practice can result in various dental problems including tooth cracks, enamel loss plus sensitivity increase. It functions as a barrier between upper teeth and lower thus absorbing the forces when grinding takes place thus reducing chances for structural injury. Also, it helps in minimizing related issues such as swelling in jaws and headaches leading to overall improved oral health.

What is Teeth Grinding/ Bruxism?

Teeth grinding or bruxism is a habit of clenching, grinding, or gnashing the teeth often without realizing it, during night time. It is categorized as a movement disorder linked to sleep. Individuals who clench or grind their teeth while sleeping are at a higher risk of experiencing other sleep-related issues, including snoring and interruptions in breathing, known as sleep apnea. It is common in children, adolescents, and young adults. This may be caused by several reasons such as stress and anxiety, antidepressant medications, genetics, deleterious habits like alcohol consumption and smoking, etc.

How to evaluate whether a patient has Bruxism?

A dentist needs to evaluate whether a patient has bruxism or not and for that, one needs to ask the patient about any symptoms of jaw tenderness or tiredness upon waking up in the morning. It can also be determined by asking parents or partners if the patient is accompanied by either of them while sleeping.

Post knowing the medical history one needs to do a physical examination by examining the jaws and tenderness around that area. Inspection of any tooth or restoration damage, occlusally, also detects bruxism in a patient.

In some cases, a dentist might be required to do polysomnography (sleep study) when it is not easy to diagnose bruxism.

Major symptoms seen in bruxism patients are:

• Flattened, chipped, cracked tooth or a loose tooth
• Worn tooth enamel exposing the inner layers of the tooth
• Sensitivity or tooth pain
• Jaw muscle tightness or tenderness in the area around
• Headache, earache and facial pain
• Limited mouth opening
• Irritation while sleeping

A dentist should discuss with the patient about behaviour or stress management and suggest relaxation techniques, and a treatment for the chipped or worn-out teeth with crowns or any other procedure should also be performed. Following this, it is important to discuss strategies for completely alleviating the habit to prevent any further deterioration of the condition. Incorporating mouth guards into the treatment plan can be a crucial step in protecting the teeth and jaw while promoting healthier habits.

Advantages of Mouth Guard:

Mouth guards offer a range of important benefits for people who grind their teeth or clench their jaws. For example, it protects the teeth from excessive wear and tear, fractures, and enamel loss that could affect dental well-being and eliminate the need for expensive restorative procedures.

In addition, Mouth guards help alleviate jaw pain and tension hence preventing conditions such as TMJ (temporomandibular joint disorder). They also improve the alignment of teeth with the jaw which makes it comfortable to sleep thus enhancing sleep quality. Night guards that are custom-made provide maximum comfort while at the same time helps to greatly reduce physical signs of stress ensuring that one sleeps well, especially during the nights. In general, these appliances contribute to proper dental occlusion thereby promoting better health.

Materials used in making a Mouth Guard:

• Acrylic – A hard, clear, and affordable plastic that’s often used in Mouth guards. Acrylic-only night guards can crack and cause discomfort, but they can be combined with rubber to create a more comfortable and durable option. These are suggested for patients who often grind or clench their teeth more intensely than normal.
• Polyurethane – A combination of acrylic and rubber that provides a cushioning layer between the acrylic and your teeth. These mouth guards provide the best balance between comfort and durability by being soft on the inside and hard on the outer shell for protection. With proper care, polyurethane night guards can have a long lifespan.
• Polyvinyl Acetate – A more affordable and durable material that’s best for people with severe bruxism and for whom softer materials would be less effective. However, it can be less flexible and more difficult to mold than other materials.
• Silicone – A very rubbery material that’s easy to mold and provides a comfortable fit. However, it is not as durable as other materials and is ideally suited for short-term use in patients with mild bruxism.
• Resin – A flexible, durable, and comfortable material that can be digitally designed and printed.

 Steps for making a customized Night Guard:

• Choose an appropriately sized tray for the patient and mix alginate according to requirement and load it in the tray.
• Take an upper and lower impression and send it to the dental laboratory for processing.
• The technician will pour a cast from the impression to get a detailed dental model.
• Once the cast is set, excess areas are trimmed from the dental model.
• Based on the dentist’s instructions and the patient’s specific needs, an appropriate material is chosen for the mouth guard, which is then fabricated.
• Finishing, polishing, and trimming of the excess areas of the mouth guard is done to prevent any impingement to the oral tissues.
• The mouth guard thus formed, is sent to the dentist, to be delivered to the respective patient.

Post insertion instructions that are to be given to a patient :

• Insertion and Removal: Guide the patient on how to properly insert and remove the Mouth guard for both the upper and lower arches, ensuring a comfortable fit.
• Wearing Schedule: Instruct the patient to wear the Mouth guard every night to maximize its effectiveness. If their condition warrants it, daytime use may also be recommended to enhance treatment outcomes.
• Cleaning Instructions: Instruct the patient to rinse the Mouth guard with lukewarm water both before and after each use. For a more thorough cleaning, recommend using a soft toothbrush with mild soap, and highlight the need to avoid toothpaste, as it may be abrasive. Instruct to store it in a case to protect it from any damage or bacteria.
• Adjustment Period: Reassure the patient that it may take several nights to become accustomed to wearing the mouth guard. If discomfort persists beyond a week, encourage them to contact you immediately.
• Dietary Recommendations: Recommend avoiding sticky and chewy foods to prevent potential damage to the night guard.
• Follow-Up Appointments: Schedule regular dental check-ups to monitor the condition of the mouth guard, address any issues, and prevent further damage.

Conclusion:

To summarize, bruxism has a lot of adverse effects on oral health; and therefore, Mouth guards remain the perfect tool in fighting against it alongside ensuring good oral health. Our patients will thus have little chance of experiencing dental damage by an organized way of reducing pain associated with teeth grinding and improving their quality of life. 

As dentists, we are supposed to tell our patients about its importance as well as how to use and take care of these appliances. We can address the issues that lead to teeth grinding through appropriate assessment and customized treatment plans so that our patients can make full use of their mouth guards and for the right dental material online availability for our patients – Dentalkart.com is always up to date.

One can also suggest U Ortho VacuMold Portable Dental Vacuum Forming/Molding Machine to their lab technicians to get the best custom fit mouth guards. This machine can also accommodate the fabrication of different dental appliances such as sports mouth guards, bleaching trays, orthodontic appliances, and indirect bonding trays.

Let preventive care be given priority, so that we transmit knowledge and resources needed by our clients eventually helping them achieve better oral health!