Easily book your appointments online
Conveniently located in Suwanee
Affordable dental services for the whole family
An inclusive approach that's as unique as you are
Protect your teeth from damage with night guards
Do you regularly wake up with an aching jaw, sore teeth, or terrible headaches? Grinding your teeth at night is an unconscious habit that can lead to several painful oral health problems. Whether you realize you’re doing the grinding (or hear complaints about it from your significant other), you most certainly feel it afterward. There is an easy solution from Hello Family Dental, a comprehensive, inclusive dental practice in Suwanee: customized nightguards.
8 things to know about NTI night guards
Teeth clenching and grinding are also known as bruxism. At our Suwanee dental office, located near Alpharetta, Georgia, Johns Creek, Georgia, Duluth Georgia and other north Atlanta communities, we use customized NTI night guards to prevent our patients from suffering headaches and other symptoms of bruxism while asleep.
Here are eight things to know about an NTI night guard:
- Enjoy a customized fit. An NTI night guard is customized for your mouth alone and is adjusted and installed by your trained and experienced Johns Creek dentist.
- Get immediate relief. If, after a complete exam, your dentist believes you are a good candidate for the NTI night guard (as opposed to a traditional full-coverage night guard), the dental appliance can be fitted immediately in your Duluth dentist’s office, eliminating the need for molds or impressions. You can begin to get immediate relief the first night after you receive your appliance.
- Rely on an expert. Without the proper fit, your night guard could cause more oral health problems and even jaw misalignment. Only trust an expert like Dr. Mitul Patel at Family & Cosmetic Dental Care to fit you with this important appliance.
- Have patience. You must commit to regular adjustments of your night guard and monitoring by your Suwanee dentist. Finding the ideal fit requires patience, which means this type of night guard may not be the best fit for every patient.
- More than a mouth guard. The NTI appliance is actually a bite guard in that it not only protects your teeth from grinding – just like most typical night guards – it also stops the clenching behavior. Ideally, you can change your teeth grinding habit.
- Train your muscles to relax. The NTI device triggers a nerve reflex to relax the muscles that are responsible for the unconscious but strong and forceful teeth clenching. The proper placement of the NTI mouth guard is intended to prevent your molars from touching.
- Barely noticeable appearance. The NTI appliance is a very small acrylic or hard plastic guard that is designed to be worn on just the two lower or two upper front teeth.
- Stays in place. Once it is properly fitted, your customized NTI appliance snaps into place. It cannot be removed without using your hands (so you don’t have to worry about it accidentally coming out during the night).
Night guards offer headache prevention and more
It is widely believed that many migraines and chronic tension-headaches are caused by clenching teeth. In fact, the U.S. FDA has approved the NTI appliance as a short-term solution for the prevention of migraines. Many patients have experienced a reduction of pain within a few weeks of starting treatment.
However, not every patient is the right candidate for an NTI appliance, most notably patients with teeth or jaw misalignment or TMJ. That doesn’t mean there isn’t a night guard out there to help minimize or eliminate your teeth grinding and clenching. The amazing team at Hello Family Dental will conduct a thorough examination and determine the most effective solution for your oral health condition so that you can find relief and prevent deterioration of your teeth and gums.
There are several common problems often caused by teeth grinding and/or clenching, including:
- Tension headaches
- Enamel erosion
- Painful or sore jaw
- TMD caused by TMJ
- Worn out teeth
- Clicking or popping jaw joints
- Tenderness when biting or chewing
- Damaged dental work
- Gum recession
Additional solutions for teeth grinding and clenching
There are a number of reasons for teeth grinding. The condition can be temporary, caused by a stressful time. Or the problem can be constant, caused by a jaw misalignment. In cases like these, a mouth guard may be temporarily helpful. To correct the problem completely, however, a more permanent intervention might be necessary, such as orthodontic treatment like Invisalign to put the jaw in its proper place.
What is not recommended is opting for an over-the-counter night guard. While this may seem like a convenient solution, the absence of a customized fit can cause more harm than good. Without being properly made for your mouth, a night guard can damage your joint, increase headaches, and cause facial pain.
A night guard is an advanced dental appliance that offers incredible relief from what seems like chronic, unavoidable pain. By getting a better night’s sleep and reducing the stress on your teeth and gums, you will not only improve your oral health but find you are more productive throughout the day thanks to pain reduction. Make an appointment with your Johns Creek dentist, Dr. Patel, who has extensive experience fitting North Georgia patients for custom night guards.
Have questions about night guards? We're here to answer them!
Free Dental Exam Gift Certificate!
