Custom Mouth Guard Dentist
Home »Dental teeth guards for bruxism and sport
Do you need to buy a mouth guard for unconscious teeth grinding while you are awake or asleep, or a sports teeth guard for protecting your teeth when you play sport? No matter what type you require, our dentists can sort you out. They can design, manufacture and fit mouth guards for kids and adults of all ages.
Teeth grinding at night when you sleep, or unconsciously throughout the day, is called bruxism. It wears down your teeth which can cause damage to them and your jaw joints.
When it comes to playing contact sport, there is a real risk of accidentally damaging your teeth through inadvertent jaw contact from other players. If your mouth area is hit with enough force, the blow can reverberate through the jaw, teeth and even the upper part of the skull.
Mouth guards for Sports are a MUST!
Everyone knows that playing sport can be an important part of leading a healthy lifestyle, but before you go off and start playing a physical contact sport, it is highly advised you arm yourself with a dentist made mouth guard to safeguard your teeth.
Blows to the lower face can increase the risk of oral injuries like front teeth fractures, splintered teeth and knocked out teeth. Impact to the jaw can also cause a person’s mouth to slam closed, damaging both the upper and lower rows of teeth when the jaws smack together.
Why shouldn’t I just get over-the-counter teeth guards?
Dentist made mouth guards are designed to protect teeth against injury, acting as a buffer which absorbs the impact to the teeth and lessens any shocks your jaw may receive from playing sport (and to protect from jaw clenching and teeth grinding). Over-the-counter mouth protectors are a cheaply made, one-size-fits-all solution that often does not offer adequate protection. They can also be rather uncomfortable as they don’t often conform and mould themselves well to a person’s bite and jaw anatomy.
As a specialised Sunshine Coast mouth guard dentist with many years of experience in seeing the costly results of what happens when people have opted for cheap ready-made mouth guards, we advise against this.
On the other hand, properly made and fitted dental teeth guards for sport avoid immediate, short and long-term distress. They work by distributing the force of any collision across the wider area. Thus, rather than one or two teeth bearing the brunt of the blow, the guard evens out the energy applied. Just as boxers wear big gloves, a dental guard literally lessens the hit.
Bottom line is, everybody’s mouth is different, and so should every mouth guard be. Children, especially, will have different shaped mouths as they grow. A teeth guard needs to fit exactly right, or it could focus any impact rather than absorb it, causing further damage.
Do I need a sleep mouth guard?
A sleep mouth guard is an occlusal splint, more commonly known as a night guard which is made of hard-plastic, is clear in colour, and smaller than a sports guard. These are most commonly used as night mouth guards for teeth grinding (bruxism) relief as they are designed to protect your teeth while you sleep.
Sleep mouth guards combat bruxism – the grinding and clenching of teeth during the night to prevent further wear-and-tear of teeth and jaws.
Are You Ready to Make a Custom Mouth Guard Dentist Appointment?
If you or a family member grind your teeth unconsciously during the day or night, or play sport, especially a contact sport, then call our dentists on the Sunshine Coast to arrange an appointment.