Mouthguard
Vancouver, WA
 A mouthguard is a protective device that can reduce trauma to your teeth. Often, mouthguards are worn by patients with symptoms of bruxism or while playing sports and participating in outdoor activities. At Alder Dental, we can customize your night guard or sports guard to fit comfortably in your mouth, making it easier to wear and providing better protection.
Teeth Trauma
The hard outer layer of enamel on our teeth is a strong material that can withstand a lot of pressure, but it is still subject to breakage. When fracture occurs, the result can be painful, costly, and require a lot of time in the dentist’s chair. A mouthguard is a silicone mold that fits over your teeth to provide a layer of protection. The silicone absorbs some of the impact and prevents your teeth from clashing, reducing the likelihood of damage occurring. We can customize and fabricate a mouthguard to provide you individualized protection.
Nightguard
A nightguard is a device that we can create for patients who suffer from bruxism. This is a disorder that is commonly seen when a patient is sleeping. The patient subconsciously grinds or clenches their teeth together. Bruxism is often a short term stress related condition but it can cause some serious damage. Teeth grinding can cause breakage, as well as the smoothing of the teeth surfaces. Our teeth are naturally designed with edges to assist in chewing food. Losing these edges can impact chewing as well as thin the enamel layer. Clenching your jaw tightly while you sleep can also be quite problematic. It can cause cracks, sometimes tiny hairline cracks, that creates space for bacteria to enter the tooth leading to the development of infection. Additionally, clenching can cause pain and disruption to the jaw joint.
Simply wearing a nightguard can alleviate these problems and protect your teeth. A custom nightguard provides comfortable protection, and the more comfortable you are, the more likely you are to wear it.
Sportsguard
A sportsguard is a device that we can create to protect a child, youth, or adult’s teeth while playing team sports, individual sports, or any other physical activity. Mouth related injuries is the most documented injury to occur in sports. Very few sports require them, but all athletes should consider them. The number of broken or fully avulsed teeth is significant.
A sportsguard provides a silicone layer of protection between your upper and lower arch, designed to protect the teeth. Additionally, this layer helps spread the effects of an impact injury across the teeth, reducing damage. Sportsguards have even been found to reduce the incidence of concussion because they take some of the impact.
Store Bought Mouthguards
We provide customized mouthguards in our office, but there are store bought versions available. Ideally, we just want to know that our patients are taking steps to protect their teeth however they are able to. Customized mouthguards can be a more expensive option. The downside of store bought mouthguards is that they come in either a one size fits all variety, or they have a boil and bite gum-like option. Though functional, neither are known for being comfortable. Our concern is that a mouthguard that is uncomfortable is less likely to be worn, especially among kids and teens.
For more information about mouthguards, contact our Vancouver at (360) 831-0831.
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