Dental night guards in Philadelphia, PA
Many people who grind their teeth are not aware that they are grinding and spend hundreds of dollars visiting doctors and specialists for symptoms that are secondary to the problem. Why people grind their teeth is unknown but the latest research points more and more out toward correlation with sleep apnea and life stress. A night guard is used to protect teeth from uncontrollable vertical forces people create during grinding or clenching, mostly at night, as well as to help facial muscles and TMJ relax by eliminating teeth interferences if the bite is off.
Frequent morning headaches, muscles pain, and tenderness, TMJ discomfort, tooth wear, are all symptoms of night grinding. But there is a very important point we need to make here. The same manifestation you can find a result of improperly functioning bite.

So it is very important to make a proper diagnosis and determine the correct course of treatment. If bite problems go unrecognized and the night guard prescribed it will just delay wear by protecting teeth at night only but as soon as it is out teeth will keep wearing down.

There are a variety of NG designs. But all have to meet the same criteria. The outer surface must be hard in order to allow nonrestricted, free movement of opposing teeth/jaw. It will ensure muscle relaxation and take the force off the joints.

The best and most predictable result is when a custom night guard is made by a dental professional. These night guards are designed to establish a proper physiological position for the lower jaw, give muscles a chance to relax.

An impression is made of your teeth. A dental technician will then make a mold – an exact three-dimensional replica of your upper and lower teeth sets them up in the device that duplicates jaw movement and fabricates a custom nightguard to ensure a snug, tight fit, and proper function.

Even with this amount of effort, a nightguard must be fine-tuned in the mouth to make sure that everything works correctly.

To learn more about dental night guards contact us at (215) 557-0660.

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