Dental Splints And Orthotics

Dental Splints and Orthotics Splinting involves the joining together of two or more teeth to increase their overall strength. If one or many teeth become too loose they can be propped up with surrounding healthy teeth with a splint. This will enable the teeth to share part of the load in occlusion, the chewing forces of the mouth, from a healthy tooth to a loose tooth. Find more info about dental splints and orthotics in the following sections. 

Many patients suffer from clenching of the jaw and nighttime grinding of the teeth as well as other TMJ disorders. temporomandibular joints are the joints of the jaw that connect the lower jaw bone (mandible) and to the skull.

Grinding of the teeth is also referred to as bruxism, which originates from too much stress, misalignment of the jaw or teeth, or hyperactivity. Both grinding and jaw clenching can cause varying oral health issues, pain, and discomfort. Also, these tendencies can dramatically weaken teeth and cause evoke wearing and chipping. If untreated, grinding along with clenching can precipitate an eventual disintegration of the teeth, headaches, jaw pain, loss of sleep, and other TMJ concerns.

Some of the signs and symptoms of TMJ include headaches, neck, shoulder, and back pain, popping or clicking sounds in the jaw joint, reduction inability to close and open mouth, loose teeth, facial pain, sensitivity and pain in teeth, crowded teeth, chewing and biting difficulty, difficulty swallowing, worn, cracked or chipped or fillings, numbness through fingers and arms, grinding or clenching of the teeth and jaw, dizziness, ear pressures or ringing in the ears.

If you happen to suffer from conditions of TMJ, oral mouth guards and tooth splints can help reduce pain, discomfort, and wearing caused by jaw clenching and grinding. Specialty mouth guards can be used to correct action by conditioning the body to halt clenching and grinding. Furthermore, these custom mouth guards can be worn at night to help prevent the discomfort and pain related to nighttime bruxism.

The full upper mouth guard is perhaps the most common oral mouth guard in use today. This appliance is custom fabricated with a special material to be designed specifically for your mouth.

Most often, an oral mouth guards fit over the upper arch teeth, but if necessary, a set can be can fabricated for the lower arch teeth. The full upper mouth guard works to hold the jaw in a more stable position during sleep, decreasing teeth grinding and jaw clenching.