Night Guards, Sports Guards, TMJ Appliances in Indianapolis IN
It’s not uncommon to grind or clench your teeth from time to time. We all do it in moments of tension or stress, and it usually isn’t a concern. In some cases, though, teeth grinding (bruxism) is a chronic problem that can wear down and even destroy their teeth.
Both the causes and symptoms of chronic teeth grinding can vary widely from person to person. But Dr. Uhl has helped many people with bruxism and can tailor treatment to fit your specific needs. We can usually provide the relief you need with a simple orthodontic appliance.
Causes of Teeth Grinding
In many cases, we’ve found that chronic grinding and clenching is often related to a misaligned dental bite. If your bite is not balanced, you don’t bite evenly on both sides, and the joint in your jaw has to shift out of its natural position to bring the rest of your teeth together.
The result is grinding and clenching of your teeth, which puts excessive force on one side of your mouth when you bite down. Since teeth grinding most often occurs during sleep, one of the most common symptoms is pain in the jaw, neck, or shoulders when you wake up.
Problems Associated With Teeth Grinding
As if the painful symptoms weren't enough, the constant force placed on your teeth by grinding and clenching can lead to a number of dental concerns, including:
- Excessive, uneven wear on teeth
- Fractured or chipped teeth
- Loose teeth
- Broken or cracked dental restorations
- TMJ (temporomandibular joint disorder)
Effective Treatment Options
Fortunately, we can help you avoid these problems with treatment options that reduce or eliminate teeth grinding. We can create a custom-made night guard that you wear while you sleep. This prevents your teeth from coming into direct contact with each other, minimizing the constant force.
Another option is an NTI device that is worn over the two front teeth at night to prevent your canines and molars from coming into contact with each other. Dr.Uhl is specially trained to customize the device so that it fits your mouth perfectly.
Custom Sport Guards
Custom sport guards are critical if you or your child are active in sports like soccer, basketball, and football. Considering the intensity of some of these activities, it shouldn’t be a surprise that up to 39% of dental injuries occur while playing sports.
We highly recommend a customized sports guard that is made using impressions of your teeth. These are much more effective than over-the-counter mouth guards because they fit snugly over your teeth, providing an added layer of protection from injury.
Please Contact Us for More Information
Our priority is to protect your oral health in every way possible. This includes treating bruxism using effective options that prevent serious damage like broken teeth. Sports guards are a simple way to avoid injury to your teeth and ensure that they stay healthy and intact.
If you or your child need to be fitted for a sports guard, or you are experiencing the symptoms of teeth grinding, please give our Indianapolis dental office a call. We will be happy to arrange an appointment to discuss your options for protecting your teeth from damage.
Frequently Asked Questions
Most of us grind our teeth from time to time, especially in moments of stress or frustration. However, chronic teeth grinding, also known as bruxing, is a problem because it places stress on your teeth that can lead to a host of dental problems. Most bruxing occurs while you’re sleeping, so you may not be aware of doing it, but Dr. Uhl will see the evidence in the form of unusual dental damage.
Common symptoms of bruxism are:
- Increased tooth pain and sensitivity
- Chipped, or fractured teeth
- Neck, facial, or jaw pain
- Worn dental enamel
At German Church Road Dentistry, we recommend nightguards in Indianapolis for our patients who grind their teeth. A nightguard is a custom oral device that fits over your upper teeth like a mouth guard. Its goal is to reduce the contact that your upper and lower jaw have when you clench your jaw during sleep, thereby minimizing the damage done to your teeth.
TMJ Treatment in Cumberland
If you are noticing any of the above symptoms and think it might be related to teeth grinding or clenching, please call our office to arrange an appointment with Dr. Uhl to discuss your concerns.
It’s easy to underestimate the protection an athletic mouthguard provides until you take an elbow to the jaw during a pick-up basketball game! Estimates indicate that nearly 40 percent of all dental injuries are sports-related, with 5 million teeth avulsed (knocked out) during these activities. Unfortunately, compliance is a problem, and even in sports like football where wearing protective gear is mandated, only about two-thirds of athletes wear their mouth guard.
Providing Protection for Your Smile
As far as which provides the most protection, an over-the-counter mouthguard is better than no nightguard at all. And while both are made of plastic, generic mouthguards are made of a thinner material that’s suitable for a wide range of people. They are fitted by boiling them until they’re soft and pliable and then biting down on them, hence the term “boil and bite” mouthguards.
Custom athletic mouthguards at our Indianapolis dental office are made of strong, heavy material and are fitted by taking impressions of your teeth. Not only are they more durable, but they are designed to fit comfortably, which eliminates a lot of the compliance problems with generic mouthguards.
Custom Athletic Mouthguards in Indianapolis
At German Church Road Dentistry, we offer all the services you need to maintain excellent oral health, including custom athletic mouthguards. Please call us so we can provide the full protection your smile needs.
TMJ stands for temporomandibular joint, the jaw joint that allows your mouth to open and close and move from side to side. You can feel the TMJ working if you place your fingers slightly forward and just below your ears while opening and closing your mouth.
This joint does a tremendous amount of work and is one of the most complex in the human body. And, just like any other joint, the TMJ can become sore from overuse, especially when you grind and clench your teeth during sleep.
TMJ Treatment with Dr. Uhl
Dr. Dane Uhl offers TMJ treatment at our Indianapolis dental office that involves wearing a custom device – either a mouth guard or oral appliance – to limit the contact your upper and lower teeth have when you grind your teeth. These devices also act as a buffer to absorb the force of grinding and minimize the damage to your teeth.
TMJ Treatment in Indianapolis
If you are suffering from chronic headaches or jaw and neck pain, please call our office to arrange an appointment. Dr. Uhl will evaluate your needs by talking to you about your symptoms and taking x-rays as needed to identify the source of the grinding to minimize its effects and protect your oral health.
If you have jaw pain, earaches, or headaches that seem to come out of nowhere, you might want to investigate whether or not you have issues with your temporomandibular joint (TMJ). The purpose of this joint is to enable you to open and close your mouth, and when this “hinge” doesn’t work correctly, it can result in painful conditions that can impact your quality of life. Chronic teeth-grinders often have issues with the TMJ because of the forceful clenching.
Signs of TMJ disorders include:
- Pain or tenderness in the joint that enables you to open and close your mouth
- Pain that seems like an earache but is related to the jaw
- Facial pain
- Difficulty opening and closing the mouth, or locking of the joint
- Difficulty chewing or painful chewing
If you are experiencing any of the above issues, your first step should be to contact our Indianapolis, IN dental clinic to ask about TMJ disorders. Dr. Dane Uhl will conduct a thorough examination to check for signs of TMJ. He can offer some possible solutions to help eliminate your pain so you can get on with your life.
Remember that dental pain is never normal. Call German Church Road Family Dentistry to find out more about TMJ disorders, and we can help to relieve your pain.
Meet Our Doctor:
Dr. Dane Uhl DMD
Owner
Dr. Dane Uhl grew up and currently lives in New Palestine, Indiana. He completed his Bachelors of Science degree in Biology at Ball State University, where he graduated magna cum laude in 2006. He then attended Case Western Reserve School of Dental Medicine where he earned his Doctorate of Dental Medicine in 2010.
Following dental school, Dr. Uhl was accepted into a highly competitive post-graduate program at the Indianapolis Veteran’s Hospital. As a dental resident, Dr. Uhl received advanced training and experience in a wide scope of dental procedures, including working ...