If you wake up often with headaches and jaw pain, you could have a condition called Bruxism. Night guards are rigid or flexible plastic retainers that help to stabilize your jaw and help prevent teeth grinding or gnawing. Night guards It can prevent injury and damage to your teeth, as well as potential damage to your jaw if you suffer from Bruxism. Night guards essentially work by precisely fitting over your teeth and preventing them from coming in contact with each other. They can also prevent many other conditions. A well-fitting and tailored night guard will not cause any discomfort. In fact, it will reduce most pain.
What exactly is bruxism?
Let's start with the basics. Bruxism refers to the grinding of the teeth. It is the medical term for this condition. It can also be used to refer to the clenching of the teeth. It is important not to underestimate this condition as over 25 million Americans have been known to unconsciously grind their teeth while sleeping and awake. This issue should be addressed as soon as it is recognized. Even though many people suffer from the condition, relatively little is known about its causes, which can make treatment difficult.
We distinguish two types of Bruxism:
* Static Bruxism, which manifests as a tightening of the jaw with clenching of the teeth without lateral movements of the mandible
* Dynamic Bruxism, which consists of grinding your teeth with back-and-forth movements of the jaw.
Causes
The causes of bruxism are difficult to establish, because everything suggests that they combine many factors, mainly of a psychological nature:
* Daily stress: Stress seems to be the number 1 factor in bruxism. The feeling of anxiety, related to work, to relationships, will therefore be one of the possible sources of teeth grinding. People with a competitive mentality also seem to be more prone to bruxism. Grinding your teeth would therefore have a "valve" effect, to free yourself from stress (a bit like others will bite their nails). However, this mechanism can go wrong and cause sleep bruxism.
* Neurological and Psychiatric: In some patients, bruxism is linked to a neuronal or psychiatric pathology, which will be the cause of stress. It can also be associated with an "ocd", a nervous behavioral disorder.
* Morphological: If it is not really the cause in relation to stress, patients with a basic particular morphology (staggered or misshapen teeth), will experience the effects of bruxism in a more virulent manner.
Do Night Guards Work?
The simple answer to this question is yes, night guards work. However, for therapeutic and other reasons, they must be worn every night. This treatment is effective in protecting teeth from excessive wear but does not cure bruxism itself. (In fact, it is demonstrated that it is mainly due to stress, and it is therefore advisable to consult a psychologist in order to better understand and try to treat the psychosomatic origin of the problem.) It is important to note that the lifespan of the night guard is between 1 and 3 years. It should be renewed every 2-3 years, depending on wear. This is due to the changing shape of your mouth.