TMJ Help Program

If you have a problem with grinding your teeth at night (bruxism), your dentist may recommend getting a mouth guard. There are several problems with that option, the most obvious being that the night guard will not cure the teeth grinding.

If your dentist makes a custom bruxism mouth guard for you it will not be cheap. These types of mouth guards usually run between $500.00 to $700.00 and they will wear down over time. The mouth guard’s purpose is to prevent further damage to your teeth and so instead of your teeth being damaged you will be “damaging” the night guard. Over time your teeth will grind away the mouth guard and then another expensive one will have to be made. It is a never ending process.

Having to wear a bruxism night guard for the rest of your life may be problematic as well. When you first get your mouth guard you will probably wear it every night but, lets face it, how long is that likely to continue? Every one of us who have had braces or some night time apparatus to help align their teeth knows that we couldn’t wait until they came off. With a night time bruxism mouth guard will it be that much different? Wearing a mouth guard to bed at night is just not a comfortable thing to do for the rest of your life.

This leads to the conclusion that a bruxism mouth guard may not be the best long terms solution to the problem. It can be a temporary band aid but the teeth grinding will still be continuing and not be cured. Is there a cure for bruxism? Many feel that bruxism has to do with stress and stress related issues in a person’s life. Dealing with that stress may be the solution for some people while it may not help others. There are other ways to tackle bruxism head on. They will probably not work overnight but they will set you on your way to curing bruxism rather than just putting a band aid over it.