A dentistry treatment such as fixing your tooth alignment may require different approaches for a complete repair. If the cause of your cracked or chipped tooth is your bruxism, you may need a dental night guard from a periodontist. Moreover, daily fatigue due to your night bruxism can affect people’s everyday tasks. Constant gum swelling and jaw clenching can also result in further dental health issues. Despite the immediate relief that mouthguards can offer, there are dental night guard side effects. A previous patient with dental night guard side effects should have a follow-up appointment with his or her local dental clinic.
What Is Teeth Grinding (Bruxism)?
Bruxism or teeth grinding is an involuntary habit of the teeth and gums to move and grind together. This action leads to dental health concerns that jeopardize your dental health condition. Usually, teeth grinding is caused by anxiety and stress due to fatigue from daily tasks and responsibilities. However, dentists also suggest that bacteria in the gums and teeth make it sensitive at night. Hence, many patients experience night bruxism as they are unconscious about this unhealthy habit. Your certified dentist may refer you to an orthodontist or periodontist for your treatment. If you are experiencing this sleeping disorder, you can also ask for help from a sleep specialist or doctor for assistance.
What Are The Symptoms Of Bruxism?
A patient suffering from the symptoms of bruxism can tell that there is something wrong with his or her mouth, gums, and teeth. While teeth grinding or bruxism is evident at night, the side effects of bruxism may also show when you wake up in the morning. Check out some of the dental issues that you may face when your teeth grind.
Shortness of Breath
Sleep apnea is an alarming sleeping disorder that can happen for people with bruxism. If you are living with sleep apnea, you may notice how you gasp for air after sleeping. Alongside sleep apnea, patients with temporomandibular joint disorder (TMJD) can also experience shortness of breath.
Fatigue
Throughout almost all related articles in this blog, we have reiterated the issue of bruxism and fatigue continuously. If you can’t sleep at night due to constant toothaches and grinding teeth, you may suffer from fatigue. However, restlessness results in a lack of cell regeneration and affects your physical activities during the day. Why is chronic fatigue a health risk? Chronic fatigue due to bruxism may lead to heart attack, central nervous disorders, and even depression. Anxiety can also come from fatigue as people who can’t sleep at night often overthink the ways to treat their dental health concerns.
What Are The Side Effects Of Using A Dental Night Guard?
Various types of mouthguards are available today through over-the-counter drug stores or in-clinic products. Many patients prefer to have a custom-fit dental night guard to ensure their recovery from teeth grinding. However, it is cheaper to buy OTC or over-the-counter dental nightguards. Thus, individuals can feel the difference between the side effects that they experience. What are the common side effects of using this dental appliance?
Toothache And Jaw bone Pain
Your first experience of wearing a nightguard may take weeks or even months to adjust. That explains why you may still have toothaches and jaw bone pain frequently. Also, you may need to seek your general dentist if your gums and teeth are shifting. As people grow old, dental night guards may not fit the earlier cast model made by a dental technician.
Sore Swelling Gums And Bleeding Gums
One common side effect of using a dental night guard is how gums can swell. An over-the-counter mouth guard may not be good enough to fit the structure of a patient’s mouth. On the contrary, gums can also swell due to the neglect of brushing and cleaning your mouth with a rinse. Not only can your gums swell, but they can also bleed. If your night guard doesn’t fit your gums and teeth anymore, you may need to replace them.
Dental Night Guard Side Effects: How To Treat It
Changing Your Dental Night Guards Treatment
Since you are now aware of the side effects, you may be asking for the treatment. Before following these instructions, it is best to ask your dentist to know how to treat your teeth grinding. However, there are certain cases where dental night guard side effects can even make malocclusion and dental disease worse. According to some dentists, only a small amount of people may need a specific dental night guard to fix their teeth grinding. Frequently, dentists may refer to other options available such as tooth extraction or prescription medicine. If you want to be sure about your mouthguard, consider switching to an appropriate dental appliance for your oral healthcare.
Clean Your Night Guard (Mouthguards)
Any kind of orthodontic or periodontic instrument or appliance may be vulnerable to bacteria buildup. So, it is an excellent decision to clean your night guard to prevent diseases from infecting your mouth even further. Just like dentures that you may get at Custom Denture Clinic in Sunshine Coast, QLD, night guards are removable orthodontic appliances. When you wake up in the morning or need to rest your gums for a while, soak your night guard with the appropriate cleanser. Also, you can rinse the night guard with a solution from the recommendation of your dentistry specialist.
Alternative Dental Treatments
Are you afraid of how dental night guard side effects may ruin your health? If yes, you may look for alternative treatments such as chiropractic or acupressure for your pain relief. Keep in mind that these alternative treatments may not have approval from your local dental authorities. Check if your local chiropractic clinic has a license to do the practice. Again, don’t hesitate to ask your dentist for proper pain management.
