Bite Guards

~ the cure for your daily grind ~

The mouth is a big place - some bigger than others - but all of us have more going on in there than we realize. Not only do you have your teeth and gums to care for, but there is the jaw bone, the jaw joint, the throat and airway, and all of the muscles and nerves and blood vessels that control how everything relates and interacts. Needless to say, it's a complex system.

In any complex system, it's no surprise that often times things can get a little "off" and need a bit of help to get back and stay on track. The temporomandibular joint, or jaw joint is one example. No joint in the body gets more use than the jaw joint - it moves every time you eat, drink, swallow, or speak from the time you were born all of the way through life.

On top of all of the normal work we ask the jaw to do for us, many of us (and I mean MANY of us) ask our jaw joint to put in a lot of overtime by way of the clenching and grinding we do day or night whether we know it or not! Overuse of the jaw joint can wear the teeth down over time and cause horrible muscle irritation and pain, joint swelling, bite changes, loss of sleep, headaches, ear aches, and other problems. Any occurrence of these symptoms caused by dysfunction of the jaw joint are grouped under the umbrella term of Temporomandibular Dysfunction, or TMD (formerly referred to as TMJ).

So how do you stop clenching and grinding your teeth? All you have to do is eliminate all of the stress in your life that is causing you to do that clench and grind.... Yeah right. Definitely easier said than done, of course. The next best thing is to cover the teeth with a thin, custom-made grinding appliance carefully made for protection and to teach the jaws to relax and take it easy. These bite guards do a lot of good for a lot of people whether they are they type that are just slowly wearing their teeth down with grinding while they sleep or have full-blown TMD with all of tooth and jaw challenges that come with it.

If you have any of the signs of TMD, let us help get you out of pain. If you have no pain and are wondering if you are quietly and slowly wearing your teeth down come chat with us and we'll take a look together. Easy stuff, we promise.