My problem with tooth grinding has become bad enough that my dentist wants me to use a custom made night guard. It will cost about $500. I don’t doubt that I need one, since I’m having quite a bit of gum recession because of it. Also, I often wake up in the morning with sore teeth and gums because I’ve been clenching so hard. I even sometimes wake myself up from having bitten my tongue. Not fun.
However, aside from the fact that I don’t want to pay that much money for one, I also wonder if OTC night guards will do the job just as well.
I’m curious to hear others’ experiences with either kind of guard, especially if you had trouble sleeping while wearing one.
I am a bad person to ask, I trained myself to sleep with my mouth slightly open. It wasn’t overly hard, as I tend to sleep face to one side and body face down or occasionally on my side.
I do have friends who use the OTC one that runs about $75 at Gaiam, they seem happy with it.
I paid $35 for one from Wal-Mart, and absolutely loved it. It was somewhat easy to get it shaped right for my mouth, and I never had trouble with it slipping off my teeth while I slept. My only complaint is I had to replace it twice in 5 years, due to eventually biting right through it. That’s to be expected though, as I grind my teeth quite hard in my sleep, which puts a lot of wear and tear on them.
Before I got it, I would break teeth from grinding them so hard in my sleep.
So you don’t want to pay $500 for something you will wear 365 days a year for probably about 5 years without needing a new one? That’s 27 cents a day to keep your gums from receding, your teeth from wearing down and your jaw from hurting?
I’ve been wearing various night appliances for 14 years now (I’ve had 3 in that time) and I’ve never found them to be over-priced. One night of sleeping without it and I’d pay anything to feel good again.
I just got my custom one a couple of weeks ago, and it was even more expensive ($800). I figure it’s a lot cheaper than major dental work down the road. (No symptoms in waking hours, but my dentist says I’m grinding down my teeth in my sleep. He’s never steered me wrong, and I’ve gone there ever since I had teeth and never had them recommend anything unnecessary - I’ve had 2 fillings in my entire life - so I trus them implicitly.)
I have one of the pricey ones from the dentist, and given how customized and fitted they are, I can’t see how something over-the-counter can do the same job. When you get the dentist one, the dentist spends a LOT of time adjusting it to ensure there are no “hot-spots” anywhere in your bite. Whenever you go in for periodic cleanings, they go over it again because your bite changes over time. There’s no way a generic one could do the same thing that I can see.
So, as **ZipperrJJ ** says, it’s well worth the price. Waking up without headaches and gum recession is a wonderful thing.
Well, not if OTC ones might also do the job, which is what I was curious about. I only know two folks who have tried the dentist-made ones, and one chewed through his within months, while the other could not fall asleep with one in his mouth (which is a big concern of mine, since I have a lot of trouble sleeping to begin with).
I was seeking diverse opinions, is all.
I fear that I will have to try an OTC one first, though, since I have to have other work done on my mouth first that is more pressing, currently (and quite expensive). It’ll likely be months before I can get to the night guard financially. I’ve got no decay, but big problems with acid erosion.
I have had 3 custom night guards over the past 8 years. I haven’t ever tried the OTC ones, so my experience is one-sided.
The OTC ones I’ve seen all seem pretty bulky, and the custom ones I have always found to be non-bulky and because they are molded from a cast of your teeth, they fit snugly.
BUT - because they are molded precisely, if you are having any work done that will change your teeth AT ALL, wait until after to get a custom guard. It will NOT fit right after certain types of work, especially work on front teeth. My dentist has had to do some adjustments after I had a filling replaced, and after I chipped a front tooth and he applied a small veneer to it.
I haven’t ever chewed through mine, but my problem is clenching rather than grinding. The night guard really absorbs all the force of my clenching and I no longer wake up with headaches and toothaches.
If you have dental insurance, ask your dentist to put through a pre-approval on a night guard. I was surprised the last time I got a new one, because insurance paid for all of it. They hadn’t paid for anything before. Mine were each around $250, so you might be able to shop around a bit.
I’m here to tell you what will happen if you DON’T get one.
I’ve been grinding my teeth at night since I was a little kid.
EVERY SINGLE ONE of my molars has major, expensive work. Most have crowns, and there are more than a few root canals in my mouth. I’ve been told that at least two of my teeth will probably fail beyond repair in the next five or so years, and then I’ll need implants.
I had to have one molar pulled because it was too damaged to fix.
I really need to look for my night guard. It got tucked away when my sinus problems were so aggravated I had trouble breathing at night. Even the sensation of wearing the night guard made my breathing worse.
I have the expensive one from the dentist and it works fine, I’ve had it for a really long time (I can’t remember how long). You will be using it forever so unless money is really a problem it might be best to get it from the dentist.
I should note that you do NOT have to replace them as often as I replace mine. I have had 3 so far because they change color over time and when they start to get yellow-y it grosses me out.
I have a night guard, and I am thankful that it prevents me from further grinding my teeth, but I feel that it exacerbates the underlying problem, the tense, clenching jaws. My teeth and jaws are sorer in the morning than if I hadn’t worn the night guard. I wish there was a better solution, like maybe botox into the jaw muscles?
The store bought ones are a bit too bulky for my liking, but I keep one handy just in case something should happen to my customs. I ordered my custom ones online. You pay, they send you the mold kit, you send it back and they send you the finished product. I had to take mine in to my dentist for a couple of edge adjustments, but they did a pretty good job. Cost me around $200 for two of them.
I’ve worn a dentist-made custom one for years now, but I have noticed that the OTC ones seem to be getting more finesse, so I’d say give them a try, especially since you’ve mentioned you’re having more work done.
I thought I was only clenching my teeth, but my dentist assured me that I was grinding, too, and all the broken teeth have confirmed that. Now I do notice when I’m grinding on my night guard - I need a different hobby.
I can’t sleep without it oddly enough. I paid around 800 for it from my dentist. I was warned that I might have a hard time adjusting to it while falling asleep. But I didn’t at all, probably because I had braces for 5 years and wore retainers for a couple of more after that.
Like others have mentioned if you have bruxism and your dentist says you should wear one, do it.
You’ll be saving yourself from an expensive nightmare down the road.
My night guard was about $500. I got it after all the work was done on my two crowns (no root canals, thank Og, just “helmets”), and in-between I used a store-bought one that was $20 at Target and approved by my dentist. It’s by The Doctors, and my dentist said he hates most OTC night guards, but after inspecting this one, he didn’t totally hate it.
I also struck a deal with my dentist when we discussed be purchasing the $500 one. I asked him about the guard he didn’t “hate” and pointed out that even replacing it every 6 months would only cost me about $40 a year (and I would need to - there were deep imprints in it over the three months I used it, and I’m sure I would have broken in within three more). He said he wanted me to use the “best” one and would replace it if it broke in the next 5 years - had that added specifically to my chart. The permanent one is much less bulky than the OTC and just that makes it worth $100 a year, IMO. The permanent one is rigid, unlike the OTC ones that are softer, and it’s molded closely to the top teeth, only a little thicker, I think, than those new-style molded braces.
Thanks for sharing your experiences. It’s been quite helpful. I’ll definitely use an OTC one until my other procedures are finished, then get the real deal.
I tried two different OTC dental guards, but I either spit them out in my sleep, or I bit them in half. I finally got the custom made one from my dentist, and it works much better.
I am working on doing this, too. I figure if I could teach myself to sleep with my feet flexed instead of pointed to help with my plantar fasciitis, I could do this, too. The problem with the night guard is it doesn’t stop the clenching of my jaw while sleeping and I still have tension headaches. If I can teach myself to sleep with my mouth slightly open that should stop the clenching, too.
