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Good sleep at night plays a crucial role in your well-being. But what if your dental issues are not helping you sleep well? Factors such as severe teeth grinding and clenching can disrupt your sleep, leading to tooth and jaw pain.
But do not worry!
With the recent rise in orthodontics, you can now keep your smile protected with a night guard. In this blog, we will explore how wearing a night guard can improve your sleep quality and protect your smile.
Understanding Night Guards
Night guards are dental devices placed inside your mouth and act as a shield between your jaws. They are mostly used for bruxism and prevent your jaws from meeting each other. They keep your perfect smile protected throughout the night and help you have a better sleep.
Types of a Night Guard
Depending on the severity of your dental conditions, your dentist recommends night guard accordingly. At ALIGNERCO, we offer the following types of night guards:
1. Soft Night Guard
A soft night guard is made of flexible 3 mm EVA plastic material. These are mostly recommended for mild to moderate dental conditions.
2. Hard Night Guard
This type of night guard is a 2 mm PTEG material, suitable for those with severe bruxism. As compared to the other options, it is rigid and not flexible.
3. Hybrid Night Guard
Considering your comfort and protection, the hybrid night guard is a suitable option. It has a soft interior for your comfort and a hard exterior for keeping your jaws in place. This is also recommended for severe grinding.
How To Know If You Need a Night Guard?
The following are some reasons you might need a night guard:
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Stress or Anxiety
A person may grind teeth as a reaction to stress or anxiety. This is an unconscious activity usually done at nighttime. Stress can cause muscle tightness leading to clenching.
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Bruxism
Bruxism is a dental term for teeth grinding and clenching. It leads to further dental complications such as damaged enamel layer and chipped teeth. Furthermore, it causes jaw stiffness causing severe morning headaches.
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TMJ
TMJ is a dental condition that impacts your temporomandibular joints. There are two of them present on each side of the face, right in front of the ears connecting the jaws to the skull. This dental condition impacts these joints and causes severe facial pain. TMJ is one of the reasons for bruxism as well.
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When your upper and lower jaws do not meet each other naturally, they might look for a perfect resting position. This leads to involuntary grinding and clenching of your teeth. Therefore, a misaligned smile is a leading cause of bruxism as well.
Improving Sleep With a Night Guard
The following is how you can improve your sleep by wearing a night guard:
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Teeth Protection
A major role a night guard plays is to offer enhanced protection to your smile. When you wear a night guard it acts as a barrier between the jaws and prevents grinding. It reduces the risk of cracked or broken teeth and keeps them safe throughout the night. It also helps in maintaining your enamel layer and prevents sensitivity.
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Comfort
Wearing a night guard offers enhanced comfort as it keeps your jaws in position. Furthermore, it is customized according to the size of your mouth preventing irritating your gums and cheeks. Hence, a custom-fit night guard considers your comfort while offering complete protection.
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Avoids Headache
Waking up with a severe headache is one of the reasons for bruxism. When you clench or grind your teeth at night it causes tension in the jaws and facial muscle pain. Wearing a night guard prevents bruxism which further helps you to relax your muscles. Therefore, it reduces headaches and promotes restful sleep.
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Improved Sleep Quality
With all these benefits of a night guard, it alleviates discomfort while you are sleeping. Your sleep might get disturbed with severe grinding pain and noise. Additionally, it also helps prevent pain related to jaw disorders such as TMJ. A night guard promotes uninterrupted sleep and helps you wake up with no headaches.
Tips For Keeping Your Night Guard Safe and Effective
When it comes to wearing a dental product, you would most likely want it to be more durable. For this sake, you need to keep them safe and maintained. The following are some tips that will help you out:
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Proper Cleaning
Keep your mouth guard properly cleaned before and after putting it in your mouth. Make sure to rinse it under lukewarm water before using it. It will take off any dust particles present on the surface and prevent germ contact.
For deep cleaning of your night guard, you can also use a soft-bristled toothbrush and gently clean it. Try not to use abrasive toothpaste that can damage your night guard causing scratches on it.
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Proper Storage
When you remove your night guard, avoid placing it anywhere on the surface. This will make your dental product come in contact with germs and bacteria compromising on your dental health. Therefore, it is important to keep it inside a protective case. Let it dry and store it well to secure it and improve its effectiveness.
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Maintaining Hygiene
As nightguard stays in your mouth throughout the night, there are higher chances of developing plaques. Maintaining oral hygiene plays an important role when you wear a night guard. Therefore, make sure to keep your mouth properly hygienic. Brush and floss your teeth twice a day ensuring no food particles remain in your mouth.
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Following The Instructions
For safe and effective storage, wear a night guard according to your dentist's instructions. Do not forget to schedule dental appointments for regular checkups of your smile.
Get a Custom-Fit Night Guard From ALIGNERCO
ALIGNERCO keeps in notice your demands and offers a night guard made from premium quality material. The following is how you can get your hands on a custom-fit night guard:
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Step 1: Make an Order
Make an order for your custom-fit night guards. We will deliver an impression kit at your doorstep.
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Step 2: Create Your Smile Impressions
Your impression kit comes with everything you will need to create your impressions. It has an instruction booklet that guides you on how to create your impressions. Once you are done, send them back to us for the customization of your night guard.
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Step 3: Protect Your Smile
You will receive a customized night guard at your doorstep. Wear it at night and enjoy a peaceful sleep.
To sum it up, if you are going through bad sleep at night, there can be multiple reasons for this. Waking up with severe headaches is a clue for teeth grinding and clenching at night time caused by multiple factors such as anxiety or TMJ. This can further cause discomfort throughout the night leading to disturbed sleep. Wearing a night guard for teeth clenching helps you protect your smile and alleviate discomfort and pain. Hence, a night guard promotes better sleep.
FAQs
1. What are the disadvantages of a night guard?
The only disadvantage of a night guard is that it gets easily loosened and damaged if made from low-quality material.
2. Do night guards work?
Night guards create a protective layer between your jaws and avoid damaging your perfect smile due to clenching.
3. Do night guards improve sleep quality?
Yes! Night guards improve sleep quality by alleviating pain and discomfort. This helps you wake up with no morning headaches.
4. What happens if I wear a night guard without brushing my teeth?
Wearing a mouth guard without brushing can lead to bacterial buildup and more chances of tooth decay.
5. Can you still damage your teeth with a night guard?
If your night guard is not according to the size of your mouth it can damage your smile.
