If there’s one main reason many people don’t wear a nightguard, it is this: most nightguards are so big and bulky, people can’t stand putting them in! At our Charlotte NC dental office Smiles by Payet Dentistry, that’s why we don’t use them any more, but offer a more comfortable and effective alternative – read on for details!
Think about those “boil ‘n’ bite” football-player type nightguards you get at the pharmacy – they’re huge! And even a lot of custom-made nightguards (the kind you usually get from your dentist) are big, hard, and uncomfortable.
A Small Nightguard Works as Well or Better
Years ago, I used to make nightguards for my patients that looked like this; in fact, this is one that I made, and remarkably, this patient actually wore it fairly consistently. You can tell because of all the deep teeth marks in it! But that’s another problem with this kind of nightguard – most people still clench like crazy on them. At least they’re damaging the acrylic instead of their teeth, but these things really don’t help stop teeth-grinding. Same with the “boil-n-bite” type you get at the drug-store.
But there is an alternative, and there are a couple real benefits to it:
- It’s small and therefore much more comfortable to wear, which means you’ll actually wear it, and
- Because it only lets the front teeth touch, it’s impossible for your muscles to clench as hard (I’ll explain this more in a minute), so you actually decrease your clenching or grinding, and
- None of the back teeth can be damaged or worn at all, because they just don’t touch.
The NTI-tss Nightguard is Comfortable to Wear
Want to know just how comfortable the NTI is? Here’s a photo of one brought in by one of my patients this very week – she’s been wearing it for SIX YEARS! If you look closely, you can see the marks she’s worn into it, but compare that to the photo above, and that nightguard was only 2 years old at that time. Clearly, if someone can consistently wear a nightguard for 6 years, it has to be comfortable!
Here’s the take-home message plain and simple: if you don’t wear your nightguard, no matter what kind, it doesn’t work. A nightguard that is small and comfortable is easy to wear and protects your teeth from clenching, grinding, and TMJ problems.
To make an appointment for a Complimentary Consultation:
Request an Appointment Online or call us at 704-364-7069.
We’ll look forward to meeting you soon!
