Bruxism - AKA Teeth Grinding

Hi, this is Dr. Ryan Francis, DDS from Grove Health Dental

Today we are talking about Bruxism or more specifically Clenching and Grinding of your teeth!

Now, there is a very good chance you or someone you know personally grinds their teeth. This is because statistically 1 in every 3 people clench or grind their teeth. General "bruxism" or teeth clenching occurs during the day as people manage busy lives and stress. Teeth grinding on the other hand is usually more common at night as most people consciously stop themselves from grinding.

Clenching and/or Grinding teeth can lead to many symptoms including:

1. Headaches
2. Sore Jaw Muscles
3. Wear Of Teeth (Front and Back)
4. Pain In Front Of The Ear
5. Temporomandibular Joint Pain

Simply put it can cause a lot of pain, discomfort and annoyance.

How can you or those you know manage and reduce the severity of these symptoms?

Here are a few options I recommend at my clinic:

1. Occlusal Guard (aka night guard, splint, bite guard) - this is a clear guard that is placed on your bottom teeth. The occlusal guard works by helping to prevent the jaw muscles to engage which relaxes the temporal mandibular joint at night. These are typical worn at night as they can make speech difficult. [I generally make a few of these a week for patients and have noticed significant improvement in those patients].

2. Daytime Mouth Piece - I have recently started creating these for my patients an it has become very popular. This mouth piece fits similar to an occlusal guard but is much less bulky and usually much less noticeable. The action is also similar to that of the occlusal guard as it allows the jaw muscles to relax which decrease the daily clenching of teeth.

These two options are great for those of you struggle with overly stressful days and/or those who struggle with intermittent sleep patterns.

If you notice that you are in fact struggling with any of these issues or symptoms I'd love to talk to you about the relief we can provide as many people are great candidates for these simple appliances.

Grove Health Dental

763.416.0011

9907 Maple Grove Parkway
Maple Grove, Mn 55369

www.GroveHealthDental.com

Sports Mouth Guards (Under Armour) - Maple Grove Dentist

Hi, this is Dr. Ryan Francis, DDS from Grove Health Dental

Today we are going to be talking about Sports Mouth Guards  and Mouth Pieces.

Today's sports mouth guards have some very convincing research behind them to back up the claims that Under Armour makes. Which they claim can increase performance of an athlete just by wearing their mouth pieces. In fact their research is backed by double blind scientific proven studies.

So how/why can they increase performance, lets get into it.

To begin with, Under Armour makes 2 main types of mouth guards, they include:

1. Athletic Mouth Guard - specifically designed for contact sports.

2. Mouth Piece - specifically designed for non contact sports.

What makes these two mouth guards/pieces advantageous?

Under Armour has included their proprietary "Power Wedges".

Now what exactly does this Power Wedge do? Basically... In a "Nut Shell" they do not allow the jaw to close completely. This lack of closing is proven to decrease the release of the stress hormone Cortisol while also increase the athletes oxygen uptake. [While this isn't a large change in oxygen uptake the athlete receives it can be substantial and allow for increased athletic performance].

Again Under Armour's scientific studies have proven this can incrementally increase their athletes performance output. This alone has become HUGE in professional sports!

The great part for younger athletes is that these performance upgrades and mouth guards are being adopted by the collegiate level as well as high school level athletes.

Now their are 2 ways to go about taking advantage of these new "performance upgrades"

1. Custom Impression - This is completely painless as we take impressions of your bite to create an excellent fit. This is crucial to athletes who want performance without the feeling of being inhibited,

2. Form To Fit (Non Custom) - These can be found at any retail store (dicks, sports authority, etc..) we can and do fit these hear in our office which is a more affordable option our clinic offers. This is a great way to ensure proper fit to gain proper performance output.

Personally as a an athlete myself I'm really excited about these! In fact my son has one that we have custom fit for him and I'm in the process of making myself a mouth piece as well as creating an athletic mouth guard when the hockey season comes back around.

Now, if you or someone you know could benefit from a custom mouth piece please give our office a call to schedule an appointment or simply ask us any questions.

Grove Health Dental

763.416.0011

9907 Maple Grove Parkway
Maple Grove, Mn 55369

www.GroveHealthDental.com