Teeth Guards

If you or your kids participate in contact sports, a customized mouth guard may be a good idea. A mouth guard protects the teeth and gums to prevent or minimize mouth injury. It is like a retainer made from softer, thicker, and stronger material. We fabricate sports guards in the office from models of your teeth for a customized, comfortable fit.

There also special teeth guards for those who grind their teeth and clench their jaw at night — a condition called sleep bruxism that is often caused by stress. The related symptoms are pain in the temporomandibular jaw joint (TMJ disorder) and in the muscles that control the movement of the jaw. Sleep bruxism can cause your teeth to chip, wear more quickly and can even lead to bone loss in the jaw and mouth.

To create a barrier between your teeth at night, Drs. Cope recommend a custom-fitted night guard. While important for those with sleep bruxism, mouth guards are especially important for patients who have invested in crowns or implants. They are inexpensive and provide an extra layer of protection to keep your smile beautiful.

To create night clenching/bruxing appliances, we take custom impressions in the office of the patient’s mouth and then send those to a dental lab for fabrication of the appliance. Often these are soft-lined hard acrylic guards that are fit and adjusted for the patient to wear primarily at night. They are retentive enough to fit well and not fall out while sleeping, but easy to insert before bed and remove in the morning.

Ask a hygienist or dentist if a guard is something you should consider.