Mouth Guards and Nightguards

At the Highlands Ranch dental office of Dr. Sarira Martin, DDS, PC, we focus on prevention so that our patients can avoid many serious dental conditions. Preventive treatments and preventive measures such as mouth guards and nightguards can keep you from sustaining trauma or help you avoid damage to your teeth caused by clenching and grinding.

Mouth Guards for Protection

If you or your children play sports, you already know that it is a great way to stay in shape and enjoy physical activity. However, playing sports unprotected can put your teeth at risk. Getting hit with a ball in the face can be a painful experience; without a mouth guard, you might end up breaking a tooth or cutting the inside of your mouth with your teeth.

Custom mouth guards provide protection during sports such as baseball, football, hockey, lacrosse, wrestling, and martial arts. The mouth guards that we create in our Highlands Ranch, CO dental office fit better than mouth guards you can find in sporting goods stores, and they stay in your mouth, where they belong. We take impressions and create your mouth guard using detailed models of your teeth. That way, they don’t slip out when you need them most.

Nightguards for Bruxism

Bruxism is the excessive clenching and grinding of your teeth. Millions of Americans suffer from nighttime bruxism and experience the consequences when it goes untreated. Your jaw muscles have the ability to exert a huge amount of force and can fracture teeth, create muscle soreness, and cause headaches.

Additionally, long-term bruxism can create problems with your jaw and degeneration of your jaw joint over time. Some of the most common symptoms of bruxism include:

• Headaches
• Neck aches
• Facial soreness
• Facial tension
• Sensitive teeth
• Gum recession
• Fractured teeth
• Notching on your teeth

A nightguard provides a barrier between your upper and lower teeth, protecting them from damaging each other with back and forth grinding motions or from clenching while you sleep. The type of nightguard that will work best for you depends upon your unique needs.

Each of our nightguards is a custom appliance that fits your teeth snugly. We will take impressions of your teeth. Several weeks later, when your nightguard comes back from the dental lab, we will make any small adjustments necessary to ensure a good fit and provide you with a carrying case, as well as instructions on how to care for your nightguard.

Periodic adjustments can be beneficial since your nightguard may change over time if you are grinding on it. Bringing it with you to your appointments will allow us to check it for damage and excessive wear.

Nightguards to Protect Your Dentistry

If you have certain types of dentistry, such as crowns and veneers, you may benefit from wearing a nightguard to prevent loosening or damaging your permanent restorations while you sleep.

Do You Have Symptoms of Bruxism?

Call our Highlands Ranch, CO dental office today to schedule an evaluation with Dr. Sarira Martin, DDS, PC. We look forward to protecting the health and beauty of your smile.