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Nightguards are made of a clear acrylic and can be priceless when worn by a patient who has a severe bruxing (grinding) problem. Nightguards also will act as a retainer (orthodontic) and keep teeth from drifting for a lifetime.

For patients who are severe bruxers a nightguard can be worth thousands of dollars in preventing wear and tear of teeth as well as crowns and bridges. Nightguards do help prevent breakage of teeth and porcelain crowns. The more a person wears a night guard, the more they are protecting their teeth.

All adults will benefit from wearing a nightguard. Children can not wear a night guard until their full growth occurs.

Patients who choose to have two nightguards made and alternate wearing them nightly will give their teeth maximum protection.

Below we have inserted our nightguard handout sheet that we give to our patients.

Why Are Nightguards (Bruxism Splints) So Important?

If you wear a nightguard when you are clenching and grinding your teeth, you will totally eliminate the tooth abrasion and other damage that occurs.

Damage that occurs due to grinding or clenching your teeth:

1. Tooth surface wear
2. Excessive wear of crowns and bridges
3. Breakage of fillings
4. Cracking and breaking of teeth
5. Bone loss around your teeth\
6. Loosening of teeth due to bone loss
7. Occasional necessity of root canals due to cracks that extend into the root

Most grinding of teeth occurs at night but some people grind and clench in the daytime and are aware of it. Most people are not aware that they do this at night, and even their spouses are frequently not aware of it.

The proof that they do, however, is by the wear facets that occur on the teeth.

In addition to preventing the points of damage listed above, the nightguard also acts as a retainer, like an orthodontic retainer which is made after braces are removed. A nightguard fits so accurately that when you wear a nightguard your teeth cannot move. This simply means that if a person wears a nightguard every night or most nights during his life, your teeth will always remain in the position they were in when the nightguard was made, even when you are 70 years old.

Teeth are not fixed in concrete. They move, and they have a clear tendency to move forward throughout life, which means they become crowded as we grow older. Nightguards completely eliminate the possibility of movement.

To take this a giant step forward, the best choice is to have two nightguards, one for the upper and one for the lower, and to alternate wearing these. This approach is pretty logical. By doing this the teeth are always protected from wear, and all the teeth are prevented from moving by the alternate night wearing.

Few people will elect to go this additional expense but I want you to be aware of this so you can have this option. Most people will elect to make only the one nightguard which we generally make on the lower teeth. Think about it, because we can always make one for the upper teeth at a later date.

Be aware that if your insurance company does pay for a portion of the cost of a nightguard, they will definitely not pay for a second nightguard.

I think this will fully explain every fact you need to know about nightguards. If not, please ask.