Wearing a nighttime mouth guard for TMJ, bruxism, and sleep apnea can drastically improve your dental health and well-being. Do you frequently grind your teeth at night, have a snoring problem, or can’t get a good night’s rest without a sore, stiff jaw and toothaches? Your dentist may suggest you start wearing a night guard. Unlike sports guards, dental night guards are designed to help prevent bruxism, TMJ disorder, and sleep apnea so you can sleep easily throughout the night. By minimizing or completely stopping these dental sleeping problems, your night guard can help you with several benefits: Save money over time by preventing the need for frequent dental work like fillings, crowns, and root canals Reduced and eliminated tooth and jaw pain Prevents chronic headaches and earaches Better night’s rest, leading to improved mood, mental health, concentration, and immune system function Improved dental and general health For children, greater attention and performance in school

There are generic night guards that can be bought at the store, and they’re great pain relievers in a pinch. However, we recommend investing in a custom oral splint. No two smiles are alike, and each one has specific needs. With a tailored fit, you can comfortably meet those needs better to address your bruxism, TMJ disorder, or sleep apnea. You don’t have to worry about your oral splint falling out during the night. Your guard will generally last longer since we prepare them with hardier materials to withstand your bite’s force over time. Let’s see how these nighttime mouth guards work. Bruxism Bruxism is the habitual and chronic grinding of your teeth and clenching of your jaws, most commonly at night. It is often caused and exacerbated by increased stress and anxiety and can severely wear down your teeth’s enamel. This thinned enamel is much weaker, leaving it susceptible to tooth decay and injury. Worn and thin enamel often shows itself with teeth sensitivity to hot, cold, or sweet foods as a warning sign to see a dentist. However, for others, this becomes apparent only once their nighttime teeth grinding causes jaw pain, toothaches, and cracked or chipped teeth in their sleep. However, with a teeth grinding guard, you can put a physical distance between your teeth. The device takes the brunt of the pressure placed on them unconsciously throughout the night, leaving your teeth relatively unscathed and intact. Over time, this can significantly reduce the number of fillings, crowns, root canals, and even tooth extractions your smile may need due to fractures, breaks, and cavities. They also allow you to get a good night’s rest without worrying about waking up in the middle of the night or the next morning with a sore jaw and aching teeth. But as great as mouth guards can be, they are a preventive measure and not a proper treatment method. If your teeth chip or fracture, you may need to see a dentist for professional care. Chipped teeth are generally predictable, especially if it has a clean break. You can see the damage, and your dentist can often tell right away whether you’ll need dental bonding, a crown, or a root canal. Some damage may be small enough to require no treatment at all. However, it’s cracked teeth that you want to keep a close eye on. While some are shallow and generally harmless, others are deceptively tricky. Fractures can be hairline-thin and difficult to see with anything less than a dentist’s trained eye. They can extend deep into the tooth, causing untold damage that only a dental X-ray scan can know the full scope. What happens if you leave a cracked tooth untreated? Deep cracks can reach and seriously harm the tooth’s central dental pulp, putting the tooth’s health and life at risk. With more teeth grinding or other dental trauma, the fracture can also quickly turn into a break as a significant part of the tooth falls off. Even without a clean break, fractures are particularly susceptible to infection and decay, speeding up the cavity process by months and even years. Without responsive repair, the tooth may eventually die and require extraction. Is a broken tooth an emergency? If your bruxism causes any of the following warning signs, please see our Long Beach dentists for immediate treatment: Persistent toothache that comes and goes Tooth pain when biting down or chewing Excessive gum bleeding or swelling Sharp tooth edges that cut your gums, tongue, and cheeks Loose tooth Sensitivity to hot, cold, and sweets

TMJ Disorder Patients with temporomandibular joint dysfunction can also benefit from wearing a teeth grinding guard. Commonly known as TMJ disorder or TMD, it typically occurs when the sliding socket joints connecting your upper and lower jaws become injured or fall out of alignment. It often leads to bruxism and can be a direct result of bruxism, but there are other common causes, too: Arthritis Jaw injury Connective tissue diseases Jaw development problems from birth This increased pressure on your jaws can lead to chronic earaches and headaches. For this reason, people often mistake their TMJ disorder for migraines, tension headaches, and sinus infections. If you think you may have jaw joint issues, be on the lookout for these TMJ symptoms: Audible clicking and popping when opening and closing the mouth Jaw pain, stiffness, or swelling Difficulty talking, eating, or opening the mouth Jaws no longer fitting together when closed Malocclusions Jaw locking shut Pain in the neck, face, and temples Extreme cases of TMD may require surgeries like botox injections, arthrocentesis, or open-joint surgery. Can you fix TMJ without surgery? A nighttime mouth guard is a standard TMJ treatment for mild to moderate jaw joint problems. These oral devices use the same strategy as ones used for bruxism. By putting space between your teeth, they can cushion the pressure your jaws put on each other. This eases the strain on the jaw joints so that they can start relaxing and healing. We also recommend changing your sleeping position to ensure you don’t put pressure on your jaws’ joints throughout the night. Sleeping on your stomach with your face pressed against your pillow is the worst possible position. In this position, you’re much more likely to start clenching your jaw and grinding your teeth at night. Sleeping on your side eases this strain, but it also runs the risk of pushing your spine and neck out of alignment. For the best night’s rest, you should sleep on your back. With consistent mouth guard usage and a good sleeping position, many patients' mild or moderate TMD clears up in a few weeks once their jaw recovers. Sleep Apnea People with obstructive sleep apnea can also benefit from wearing a dental guard at night. Sleep apnea is a disorder where a person has frequent pauses and stops in their breathing throughout the night. This often not only wakes up the person with sleep apnea but their bed partners too because it frequently leads to snoring, mouth breathing, and gasping during sleep. If you constantly wake up with a dry mouth and throat, you run the risk of having frequent tooth decay problems and cavities. Not only that, but you can suffer from Fatigue Mood swings and irritability Headaches Weight gain Type 2 diabetes Sleep apnea is more prevalent among children, and many kids eventually grow out of theirs. However, the damage done during your young one’s childhood can affect them for years and even decades afterward. Additionally, they can still cause problems while your child is young and growing. In addition to standard sleep apnea symptoms, children with sleep apnea often suffer from: Night terrors Bedwetting Sleepwalking Hyperactivity Difficulty paying attention Poor performance in school Do mouthguards work for sleep apnea? While some patient's bruxism can result from sleep apnea, the usual teeth grinding guard won't fix a patient's sleep apnea. But that doesn't mean that an oral splint won't work. Night guards for sleep apnea are a little different than the ones made for bruxism and TMJ disorder. They are designed to open up your airways while you're sleeping. To do this, they either move the jaw forward or hold your tongue in place. These devices are so effective that they're often used as anti-snoring devices, even for patients without sleep apnea. Are you interested in getting a custom dental guard for your nighttime dental problems? Call our Long Beach dental office at (562) 999-3602 to schedule a consultation with our dentists today.