When you grind or clench your teeth on a regular basis, this could mean serious discomfort and even damaged teeth too! Fortunately, we can treat teeth grinding and clenching, using an option that fits comfortably and protects your smile. In today’s blog, your Syosset, NY, dentist talks about oral appliances.
The Causes and Dangers of Teeth Grinding
We could begin to grind our teeth regularly based on changes to the balance of our bite, which places pressure on our smile. This could include tooth loss, malocclusion, injury, or even complications with the growth of the jaw or eruption of the teeth. High levels of stress in your daily life could be a factor, as could untreated TMJ disorder. Without treatment, this constant pressure on your teeth could wear them down or even crack or chip them. The damage then exposes the infected inner tissues to bacteria, allowing cavities and infection to develop. This could threaten the stability of your smile!
The Symptoms of Bruxism
How do you know if you need to seek treatment? Warning signs could vary, but may include headaches, migraines, jaw pain, facial aches, or a popping or crackling sensation in your jaw. Toothaches and tooth sensitivity could occur due to damaged teeth too. If one or more of these symptoms sound familiar, the let us know right away so we can offer treatment. Our team will begin by carefully examining your smile, looking at the wear and friction to assess your risk, and also obtaining a detailed picture of your bite imbalanced areas. We can then use digital images to help with the design and custom-fitting of an oral appliance.
Oral Appliances
An oral appliance that looks and fits like a mouthguard. The transparent device will be worn as you sleep, fitting over your teeth and prevent the opposing canines and molars from making contact. This allows your bite to relaxed, and prevents further damage to your smile. Symptoms then subside. This means treatment without any drugs, surgeries, or shots. In some cases, this can help with TMD-related symptoms too.
If you have any questions about our oral appliances, then contact our team to learn more about treating bruxism with an oral appliance. If you have any damaged teeth, we can offer repair with bonding and contouring, or possibly a custom-made dental crown. Relief is always possible, so don’t ignore painful symptoms, talk to a team of experts!
Do You Have Questions About Treating Grinding/Clenching?
Our team wants to help treat chronic teeth grinding and clenching with a noninvasive solution. If you have questions about correcting imbalanced and aching smiles, then contact our Syosset, NY dental office today at 516-433-2211.
