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Types of mouth guards for TMJ pain

Published on

Dec 26

2024

Table of contents

1. What is a Mouth Guard for TMJ Issues?

2. What are the Uses of Bite Guards for TMJ Problems?

3. Types of TMJ Dental Guard?

4. Outcome of Using Teeth Guard for TMJ Problems

5. Choosing the Best TMJ Clinic for Mouthguards

6. Conclusion

Are you suffering from TMJ pain or sleepless nights? You may have heard about mouthguards or night guards as the solution to these problems. They are ideal for treating your temporomandibular joint problems; however, it is important that you choose the right kind of mouth guard for TMJ issues. Without experimenting on mouth and nightguards yourselves, ensuring you find the right TMJ specialist is crucial to rightly identifying your problem and treating you accordingly.

Some common TMJ disorders that the mouth guards cure are bite misalignment, bruxism, jaw locking and jaw pain, usually associated with stress, anxiety or genetic-related problems. These problems result in various problems like difficulty in opening the mouth, chewing and affecting the airways leading to snoring and sleep apnea.

For instance, among these, teeth grinding or bruxism is experienced by both children and adults. In the former, 1 in 5 children and 28% of adults experience teeth grinding or bruxism among other TMJ related problems. This is a one-off example, and many such statistics show an increasing commonality of people who need mouthguards TMJ problems demand of.

What are the Uses of Bite Guards for TMJ Problems?

There are several uses of mouth guards you can adorn to prevent various symptoms and mishaps from happening, that can often prove painful and costly. A bite guard predominantly helps in TMJ by preventing one from clenching, biting or grinding and keeping the upper and lower jaw slightly apart. Let us explore what the uses are, in detail-

It prevents grinding and clenching of teeth while asleep
It relieves tension and pain between the jaws
Helps your muscles relax and avoids spasm and pain
Prevents jaw locking or the popping
It helps avoid a worn disc or arthritic situation
Helps correct improper bite pattern

Orthodontists Use these Types of TMJ Dental Guard

When it comes to mouthguards, here is an understanding of how they work and accordingly it is differentiated into 6 main types. Upon your dentist’s recommendation, you can evaluate your condition, financial aspects and recovery rate before choosing the right mouth guard for TMJ and other problems.

You must be mindful that many OTC appliances are sold for the purpose of treating your TMJ pain and sleep apnea, However, you must consult your orthodontist for the right fit and their medical advice on duration and the expected outcome. Some common examples are TMJ bite splints, boil and bite mouthguards, temporary appliances etc.

A dental sleep medicine specifies addressing a medical condition with the initial stages of sleep problems that can be treated with an oral appliance that prevents your tongue from blocking your air passage while you are asleep.

Sometimes you may get TMJ pain due to the misalignment of your teeth and to get them back in shape, the orthodontic retainers are used to fix the teeth back in place. Usually, it is adorned after metal braces or Invisalign treatment. Hence, they indirectly help you combat TMJ pain.

While sports is an impactful activity from the balls or players’ side, with physical altercation happening quite often, it is best to use a sports mouthguard to avoid any injuries to your mouth and TMJ areas. Some sports mouthguards come in varieties such as battle ones, Sisu guards, gum shields, football and hockey mouthguards among many others.

By looking at your temporomandibular joint anatomy, your orthodontist suggests certain oral appliances based on your TMD severity. Your overall treatment plan includes wearing the mouthguard, tracking the progress with specific objectives and treating the exclusive TMD problems you are suffering from.

Bruxism is a condition of the TMJ, and night guard helps you make your condition go away. Bruxism is where you involuntarily grind your teeth at regular intervals during sleep, damaging your teeth enamel and putting pressure on your teeth to the brain. The bruxism mouthguards prevent contact of the upper with lower jaw and nullify the grinding effect, retaining your enamel health.

Bite splints help you relax your muscles controlling the jaw and create a barrier between the upper and lower jaw, refraining from any bite-related problems leading to TMDs. It is made of hard acrylic resin and mainly helps you reposition your jaw in the right position.

Outcome of Using Teeth Guard for TMJ Problems

To receive the expected results of rectifying your TMJ issues, it is best to take suggestions from your orthodontist and using their appliances are safer, though a costly affair when compared to OTC mouth guards and night guards, without doctor’s advice. Also, it is important to know that the upper and lower teeth and jaw alignment is an irreversible procedure, and you have to have a mindset to be open to having a mouth or bite guard for TMJ resulting in permanent changes to your jaw structure. Your sleep problems, bite problems, misalignment issues and sleep quality all get better in time, by using the required appliance for the prescribed time frame for a lasting outcome.

Choosing the Best TMJ Clinic for Mouthguards

While there are lots of technicalities and monitoring required in this procedure, it is advised against using OTC medical appliances unless suggested by your orthodontist for your mouth guards and TMJ requirements. As these oral appliances decrease mechanical stress and inflammation of your temporomandibular joint, they come with a conceptual framework attached. Choosing an expert in this area is recommended and TMJ India is one such orthodontic clinic for your mouthguard requirements. Our expert orthodontists assess and recommend the best mouth guard for TMJ and sleep apnea post assessing the underlying condition.

Conclusion

If you have signs of TMJ pain or cheekbone pain, visit our clinic so that our experts can help you diagnose your inflammation and suggest to you the best type of mouth guard for TMJ, head or cheekbone pain and other issues.

To treat the most complex of TMJ problems, contact us at TMJ India and get your appointment with our TMJ experts today!

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