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 1. Do I need a Bite Splint?
In today’s stressful world we are finding a lot of patients are developing problems due to nighttime tooth grinding (bruxing).
The problems associated with bruxing can include:
- Broken teeth and dental work
- Excessive wear and shortening of the front teeth
- Headaches, especially when you wake up in the morning
- Soreness in the jaws and facial muscles
Many patients are totally unaware they grind their teeth. Often we hear stories of spouses waking them up telling them to stop grinding. They are surprised because they had no clue. Indications that you may be grinding include the things noted above: headaches, sore jaw muscles particularly in the morning or broken teeth.
2. So what can be done to stop the grinding?
Studies have shown grinding is often associated with stress. Elimination of stress from your life may stop the grinding. Unfortunately this isn’t always possible. The alternative that we would recommend is a bite splint.
3. What is a bite splint?
There are a number of different designs for a bite splint. Some are very elaborate others are quite simple. The one that seems to work best in our experience is a simple plastic piece that fits into the roof of the mouth.
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4. How does a bite splint work?
The splint is inserted when you go to bed at night and removed in the morning. The contact of your lower front teeth against the splint stops the grinding process in most patients. The few that continue to grind will not experience wear or breakage of teeth.
5. What does it cost?
To obtain the current cost of this procedure please
click here.
6. How often do I need to be seen?
After the splint is placed, we will see you in a month to determine if it requires any adjustments. After that, we will see you approximately once a year to check it. If you are comfortable with its performance we will not need annual checks, we will leave this up to you.
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