What is Splint or Night Guard, and What Can It Do For My Jaw?
Hard splint with softer comfort lining.
The benefits of a bruxism appliance or splint/night guard:
- Teeth and dental work are protected from the grinding process – much cheaper to buy a splint than repair teeth
- Ideally the clenching and grinding habit is eliminated over time
- Jaw muscles can relax which can help reduce tension and pain
- The jaw joint or TMJ receives less damaging forces
- The bone associated with the teeth and the jaw joints have less force directed to them, which can reduce future damage
What your tongue might feel of the inside of a hard splint.
Side view of hard splint
In our office in Grand Junction, Colorado we make several types of bruxism appliances or splints. The most durable is a hard acrylic splint that covers all the teeth of one arch and is adjusted to obtain an ideal bite pattern with the opposing dental arch. This type of splint is best for patients who continue to clench and grind their teeth even with a splint appliance or Night guard in place.
Our office would be happy to answer your questions about splints or night guards and provide you with the information you need to make an informed decision about your teeth. We can show you samples of various types of splints, night guards and other appliances and how they fit in your mouth.
Please call our office for further information or visit our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/juliegillisddspc or our website! We would love to help.
Yours for better dental health, Julie Gillis, DDS
We also make an NTI appliance which can reduce the muscle forces from grinding by over 80%. Our soft PROFORM appliance is much less expensive and is often enough protection to allow the jaw muscles to relax and protect the teeth.