Our Dental Blog

Worn at night, or on the field, a custom mouthguard offers a number of benefits for the health and protection of your smile. In today’s blog, your Kansas City, MO, dentist will explain how we craft these preventive appliances, and how they may benefit smiles of all ages.

Designing and Crafting Your New Appliance

While you and your family can find any number of boil-and-bite options at a sporting goods or big box store, these are designed to be one-size-fits-all options, which limits the level of protection they can offer. They are also bigger and bulkier, which means they are uncomfortable for kids to wear and often, they may forgo them completely when playing sports! However, with a custom-made option, we create smaller options that fit much more comfortably. They will protect the smile and are even cozy enough to sleep with! To create them, we take a series of detailed images and impressions using digital technology. We combine them to create a 3D model, so we can design and craft an appliance that is made for you or your child’s smile!

TMJ Disorder and Bruxism

We often use them to address common oral health concerns, such as TMJ disorder and bruxism. TMJ disorder, also known as TMD, is a disorder that occurs when the jaw joints become severely strained. People have trouble opening and closing their mouth and could experience a popping or clicking in the smile, headaches and migraines, and aches in the neck, face, jaw, and shoulders. Bruxism is when we grind and clench our teeth at night on a frequent basis, which places pressure on the teeth to wear away enamel or even crack and chip them. Along with headaches, migraines, and jaw pain, the disorder could also mean sensitive teeth and toothaches. A custom mouthguard helps by repositioning the jaw joints to ease strain and pressure and also places a barrier between the upper and lower teeth to prevent further damage to your smile. Don’t worry, we also have cosmetic treatments like dental bonding to repair any damage in one visit!

Preventing Damage

When we play sports or enjoy other activities that could damage the teeth, we want to safeguard our smile from cracks and chips, or from having teeth knocked loose or out completely! With a custom mouthguard, we provide serious protection against injury or lost teeth. If you have any questions about how we design and craft them, or if you would like to seek treatment in 2021, then contact our team today.

Do You Have Questions About Preventive Appliances?

We know how to craft appliances that fit comfortably and offer your smile serious relief. To learn more about putting a stop to your teeth-grinding issues and more, then schedule a consultation by calling Cosmetic & Implant Dentistry of Kansas City, MO, today at 816-427-4018.