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Dental Nightguard Saves You Thousands

A dental nightguard can help prevent jaw pain.

It is common knowledge that some people clench or grind their teeth during sleep. You yourself or a loved one may be suffering from this nighttime habit.

And while patients have been told that they probably clench their teeth in their sleep and they should have a nightguard, they don’t know what happens if they don’t get a nightguard.

When we bite down on our back teeth, our chewing muscles generate a tremendous amount of force. During waking hours when we eat our food we can control how hard we bite down.  While sleeping, we no longer have this control. So the forces generated by the clenching during sleep can be much higher which places a great amount of stress on the teeth. These repetitive periods of stress on the teeth result in the teeth developing micro-fractures. Over time, these micro-fractures lead to an actually visible fracture where a piece of a tooth breaks off.  At other times the nerve in the tooth gets damaged. There is a whole host of other problems that are caused by excessive nighttime clenching such as locked jaws and headaches.

The bottom line is that nighttime clenching and grinding of the teeth end up causing injuries to the teeth and the surrounding structures. These injuries could be minimized (or even avoided altogether) with the use of a properly fitted custom mouthguard.

There are different kinds of mouthguards for different problems. For example, people who have headaches due to their nighttime clenching need a different type of nightguard versus someone who is cracking and chipping their teeth.

Mouthguards range in price from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars. However, they more than pay for themselves by saving you the cost of the dental treatment for fixing a broken tooth or a root canal therapy on one or multiple teeth.

Custom-made nightguards have proven to be effective in reducing the damaging effects of clenching or grinding.  If you have been told in the past that you clench, or if you know you do even if no one has mentioned it, talk to your dental healthcare provider or contact us and Dr. Eslampour can help you determine if a nightguard is appropriate for you.

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Why Does My Tooth Need a Crown After a Root Canal?

Broken molar tooth following root canal therapy
Broken molar tooth following root canal therapy

Teeth, especially our molar teeth (the back ones) get tremendous amounts of forces exerted onto them as a result of normal day to day chewing and eating. Pair these forces up with say crunchy foods or snacks and the force that is exerted on these teeth increases dramatically.  All of these forces can lead to fracture of healthy teeth, let alone teeth with large old silver fillings.  Another reason a crown is necessary for a back tooth is following root canal therapy. After the root canals therapy is done, the tooth becomes considerably weaker. This weakening process leads to the tooth being more susceptible to fracture. This is what happened in the picture above. The patient had his molars root canal treated, but because of insurance limitations, no crowns were placed on the teeth. Patient presented 3 months after the root canal completion with a cracked tooth.

Cracked molar after root canal therapy
Cracked molar after root canal therapy

Unfortunately not much can be done to salvage the tooth. It needs to be extracted.

All of this could have been avoided by placement of a crown on the molar tooth. To learn more about root canal therapy or crowns follow the links above.

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Sports – Kids – Sports Mouthguards

Do you have a kid who plays sports? If you answered yes then this is very important. A sports mouthguard is going to save you and your child a lot of pain and agony, not to mention the financial burden over a number of years. We often don’t think of the consequences of the injury until they are affecting us directly. And the entire goal is to minimize the damage and injury.  A bruised lip is easier to treat than a tooth broken in half or knocked out of the mouth, not to mention the emotional stress on everyone.

Sports Mouthguards – Protective Gear

Sports and Kids - Injury Prevention

Common organized youth sports where the use of protective mouthpiece is almost mandatory are football, basketball, and hockey. But some other sports where you may not think of the need for a protective mouthguard include examples like skateboarding, mountain biking, martial arts, and many more.

Accidents happen all the time. It’s best to minimize the damage caused by such accidents by taking precautionary measures. A well-fitting custom-made mouthguard means it will be used more because it’s comfortable. The over-the-counter mouth protective piece is oftentimes bulky and uncomfortable to wear. Sometimes they cause gagging or even make breathing difficult. So even though they are very affordable, they are practically useless in most cases.

Common Dental Sports Injuries

Every year the cost of dental treatment necessitated by sporting accidents is in the millions of dollars. A sports mouthguard could prevent or significantly decrease the damage and trauma to the teeth while playing sports. Here is a list of the common injuries to the face and the mouth and how a mouthguard can help minimize the damage.

Busted Lip – Broken Tooth

Broken teeth hurt animals like this elephant and humans alikeThis is a very common scenario. The kids are playing basketball on the court. One gets accidentally hit by a ball or an arm or hand to the face. If the force of impact is light, usually a bruised lip is the result. But as the force increases, so do the odds of breaking a tooth, having the tooth impale the lip, or even get knocked out of its socket.  These are all relatively painful issues to treat after the accident. A sports mouthguard protects the teeth against breakage and minimizes damage to the soft tissue.

Jaw Pain – Broken Jaw – Jaw Dislocation

Jaw pain, jaw dislocation or even breaking the jaw bone are all consequences of severe trauma to the face from sportsIf the accident causes the lower jaw to smack against the upper jaw then the damage gets worse usually. Sometimes multiple teeth are broken as a result of this trauma.  If the break is deep enough a root canal may be necessary to save the tooth. Cracked teeth are painful to bite on and will also need to be treated. A more forceful impact can even break the jaw A sports mouthguard minimizes these types of damage by cushioning the blow. It’s like having airbags for the mouth.

Custom Mouthguards

Having your child protected with their own custom-made athletic mouthguard is as easy as picking up the phone and contacting us.  We can schedule your child for a quick visit where we take an impression of the teeth. The mouthguard usually takes 1-2 weeks to fabricate. Plus they come in all sorts of cool colors and patterns.

Follow this link to learn more about sports mouthguards.