Custom dental guards are designed to protect your teeth from damage, whether that damage happens while you sleep or during athletic activities.
Night guards help protect teeth from grinding or clenching during sleep, a condition dentists call bruxism. Left untreated, grinding can contribute to tooth wear, fractures, and jaw discomfort.
Mouth guards are worn during athletic activities to help reduce the risk of chipped, broken, or knocked-out teeth during contact or high-impact sports.
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Night Guards (Bite Splints)
Night guards, also called bite splints, are custom dental appliances designed to protect your teeth from grinding and clenching while you sleep.
Tooth grinding, a.k.a. bruxism, can place excessive pressure on the teeth, jaw, and surrounding muscles, often without you even realizing it.
Over time, left untreated grinding can lead to worn or fractured teeth, jaw pain, headaches, and increased tooth sensitivity.
A custom night guard helps absorb and redistribute these forces, reducing strain on your teeth and jaw while you sleep.
Your night guard is made specifically for your bite using precise impressions, ensuring a secure, comfortable fit. Unlike over-the-counter options, a custom appliance is designed to stay in place and provide consistent protection without interfering with breathing or sleep.
Depending on your needs, night guards can be designed to address mild grinding or more complex bite and jaw concerns. Regular follow-up allows adjustments over time to ensure continued comfort and effectiveness.
Mouth Guards (Sports Mouth Guards)
A mouth guard is a flexible, custom-fit device that is worn over the teeth to directly protect both hard and soft tissues. One of the simplest, yet often overlooked, ways of protecting yourself (or your children) against sports related dental injuries is to use a custom mouth guard.
They are designed specifically to help protect teeth during athletic activities where impacts, falls, or collisions are more likely. They reduce the risk of chipped, broken, or knocked-out teeth, as well as injuries to the lips, tongue, and jaw.
If you have ever been actively involved in (or have any children that play) ice hockey, lacrosse, football, boxing, wrestling, racquetball or martial arts, then you are probably quite aware of the potential these activities can present for unplanned trips to the emergency room.
Mouth guards are commonly recommended for contact and high-impact sports such as hockey, football, basketball, lacrosse, soccer, and wrestling. They’re also a smart choice for children and teens whose teeth and jaws are still developing.
While teeth are somewhat protected with the use of helmets and shields, a mouth guard is worn directly over the teeth so it protects both hard and soft tissues in the mouth much more effectively. In addition to protecting against chipped, broken and lost teeth, root and bone damage, they safeguard against jaw fracture, cerebral hemorrhage, concussion and neck injuries (this can happen if the lower jaw slams into the upper).
According to the ADA, studies show that an athlete is 60 times more likely to suffer harm to the teeth when not wearing a mouthguard. It’s also worth noting that the cost to repair sports related dental injuries can be ten times the price of the mouthguard.
Custom sports mouth guards are made specifically for your mouth, allowing for a more secure and comfortable fit than over-the-counter options. Because they fit precisely, custom guards stay in place better during activity and make it easier to breathe and speak while wearing them.
Getting fitted for a mouthguard is easy and only requires two office visits; the first to take an impression (which is then sent to our dental lab) and the second appointment (approximately three weeks later) to try it on and take it home. You are then free to go out and moonlight as Muhammad Ali.
Another important thing to remember: As children lose teeth and grow, they will need new mouthguards made to fit their mouth properly. You may want to make a new one every 6 months to be sure it fits well and is not worn.
Night Guards vs Mouth Guards
While both night guards and mouth guards start with taking an impression of your mouth, they are designed for very different purposes.
Night guards are created with the mechanics of your jaw and bite in mind. That’s why we may take additional measurements and use tools designed to evaluate how your jaw moves and where your teeth make contact. (Yes, it can look a little medieval, but it’s painless and very effective.)
- Night guards are all about bite evaluations and retraining your muscles to help ensure you’re not damaging your own smile.
- Mouth guards are all about protecting your teeth from impact and injury during sports and physical activity.
Same idea, very different purposes. Trust us, sports mouth guards aren’t meant for sleeping, and night guards aren’t built for hockey.
Protect Your Smile Day or Night