Once you have your adult set of teeth, you unfortunately don’t get another. That’s why it’s so important to protect and care for your adult teeth when they are fully grown. One way of doing that is through mouthguards. However, there are many different kinds of mouthguards so how do you know when to get one and which one to get?
Using Mouthguards for Sports
Many of the most popular sports involve taking some heavy hits. Football, hockey, rugby, and lacrosse are often rife with injuries over the course of a season. Teeth-related injuries are no exception. Typically, this includes accidents like chipped or cracked teeth, fractured tooth roots, and cuts to the lips and tissue inside of the mouth.
However, there are several kinds of sports mouthguards that can help with this.
Mouthguards can easily be purchased in most pharmacies for sports to help protect your mouth and teeth. However, not all mouthguards are made equal, and it’s best to ask your coach or dentist what mouthguard they recommend to best protect your mouth.
Getting a Mouth Guard for Bruxism or Teeth Grinding
One of the most common uses for mouth guards is treating teeth grinding while sleeping—also known as bruxism. Left alone, teeth grinding can not only cause aches and pains in the jaw in the morning but also headaches and wear on your teeth. Nighttime mouth guards offer an easy way to treat those health problems and protect the enamel that coats your teeth.
While “boil-and-bite” mouthguards seem like an affordable way to treat teeth grinding, since they can be purchased from most pharmacies, they aren’t usually recommended. A custom fit and proper thickness from the bruxguards your dentist provides are far superior.
If you suffer from teeth grinding, we recommend seeing your dentist to talk about specific solutions. They may recommend getting a prescription mouthguard that will fit perfectly in your mouth and prevent you from grinding down your teeth.
Using a Mouth Guard to Treat Sleep Apnea
It may be counter-intuitive to think that by adding more to the inside of your mouth while you sleep would be helpful, but that can be the case. Patients who suffer from snoring may benefit from a mouthguard that keeps the airways open while sleeping—thus reducing their snoring and improving their sleep.
These mouthguards can only be fabricated by a dentist as they need to be specifically designed to address the unique architecture of your mouth and require adjustments by your dentist to be effective.
Overall, mouth guards offer significant oral protection that can help you live a happier, pain-free life.