Grinding or clenching your teeth during sleep can strain your jaw, harm your teeth, and disrupt your oral health over time.
If Charley Cheney, DMD, at Fayette Dental Group in Fayetteville, Georgia, detects that you clench or grind your teeth while you sleep, he may recommend an oral sleep appliance called a night guard.
A night guard is a retainer-style device that fits over your upper or lower teeth. Although we primarily prescribe them to manage nighttime grinding and clenching (bruxism), night guards can also alleviate chronic jaw pain from temporomandibular joint (TMJ) dysfunction.
A night guard is also a safe alternative to continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).
Regardless of why we recommend a night guard, wearing it consistently offers several benefits, including these six:
Unconscious grinding, clenching, and gnashing of teeth at night can severely impact dental health. Untreated bruxism could cause:
A night guard prevents tooth damage related to bruxism by ensuring your upper and lower teeth don’t make forceful contact while you sleep.
Involuntary grinding and clenching at night harm your teeth and strain your jaw joints and muscles. That can result in:
Using a night guard while you sleep helps alleviate jaw tension and pain and prevents or addresses persistent TMJ dysfunction that may lead to a full-fledged TMJ disorder.
Before clear problems with teeth and jaws appear, bruxism usually manifests through chronic headaches.
Persistent oral health issues strongly influence the pain-sensitive areas of your head, so it makes sense that headache pain often signals the onset of bruxism. Individuals who grind their teeth at night frequently experience morning headaches.
Wearing a night guard can help lessen or prevent headaches and related neck pain by cushioning your teeth and jaw joints against the intense and harmful impacts of unconscious grinding and clenching.
Nighttime clenching and grinding can be involuntary, yet it remains disruptive — chronic bruxism interrupts sleep patterns and hinders restorative slumber.
Regularly wearing a night guard promotes healthier sleep by relaxing the jaws. When your jaw joints and muscles are relaxed at night, your entire body can relax, enabling deep sleep.
Snoring may not be the most severe symptom of bruxism, but it can bother you and your partner. For many adults, the jaw clenching of bruxism often restricts airflow, making breathing difficult and increasing the likelihood of snoring during sleep.
Using a night guard helps relax your jaws and creates space between your upper and lower teeth, significantly improving airflow and decreasing chronic snoring.
Dr. Cheney often recommends personalized sleep devices for individuals with mild to moderate sleep apnea. Many patients find that a custom night guard relieves sleep apnea and snoring, allowing them to discontinue CPAP use.
A night guard offers lasting benefits: It protects your teeth, reduces jaw tension and pain, and helps prevent serious TMJ issues, making it a wise choice for long-term oral health.
Protecting your teeth and jaw helps you avoid the high costs of restorative dental treatments later, emphasizing the importance of caring for your oral health now.
To learn more about custom night guards, contact Fayette Dental Group at 770-683-2000 or request an appointment online today to schedule an exam and consultation.
