woman putting mouth guard

Dental Conditions That Mouth Guards Can Treat

Dental care for a long time only meant cleaning your teeth and occasional flossing to guarantee a sparkling white smile. While these are still pre-requisites of dental health, they are not enough. Several elements might still affect your oral health to varying degrees. Most of them are severe enough to warrant the professional extraction of your teeth or lead to the accidental loss of the teeth.

Getting an implant installed not just by anyone but rather a dental implant specialist based in Sunrise, FL, is the ideal solution in tooth loss for whatever reason. This way, the functionality of your mouth along with your smile remains unaffected. Dental implants are unfortunately expensive, and it is cost-efficient for you to prevent the loss of your tooth. The best pick for the prevention of tooth loss is through the use of a mouth guard. While several stores and chemists now stock mouth guards, the ideal choice is a customized one that follows and snugly fits the contours of your mouth. The following are the common indications for mouth guards in dental care.

Bruxism

Nighttime clenching of the teeth is a leading concern in most people. Most patients assume this is nothing more than a minor inconvenience for their sleeping partners, but it is more than this. Bruxism will put considerable pressure on your jaws and lead to unexplainable head and earaches while chipping off your teeth’s enamel. Your dentist, in this case, might recommend a customized mouth guard that will even out the pressure on your jaws emanating from the clenching. The mouth guard will also prevent the continued damage to your teeth and reduce the intensity of the annoying noise made when grinding your teeth.

Sleep Apnea

This denotes a potentially dangerous disorder that will cause somebody to stop breathing temporarily when asleep once the tongue falls back.  Sleep apnea will keep your brain from getting enough oxygen and cause excessive snoring. Dentists, in this case, will recommend a customized mouth guard that will keep your airways open as you sleep. The mouth guard designed for sleep apnea also pushes your jaw and tongue forward to keep the airway open.

Snoring

man snoring in his sleep

Some cases of snoring are not connected to health issues but are still annoying for your sleeping partner. To avert the inconvenience and discomfort of snoring, the dentist might get you a mouth guard to forward your lower jaws and keep the airway open. This way, the soft tissue vibrations in your upper airway responsible for the snoring sound are reduced.

Sports

This marks the most common indication for mouth guards more so for contact sports. Mouth guards, irrespective of the sport you will be engaging in, are essential to protect your teeth from fractures. While some cases of dental fractures will be treated using dental bonding and veneers, others are grave and will need the extraction of the tooth to avert grave health concerns.

People do not immediately think of mouth guards when they hear of dental care. Dentists are now focused on prevention treatments rather than corrective ones more than ever before. Mouth guards are among the leading preventive dental appliances. They will significantly reduce your dental care expenses and guarantee you the highest level of dental health.

Scroll to Top