General dentists prescribe Protective acrylic splints, colloquially known as nightguards, for cosmetic dental problems. These mouthpieces also offer medical benefits to patients, and they provide adjunct supports to a variety of traditional and restorative treatment options.
General dentists use a variety of mouthpieces to treat cosmetic dental problems. These night guards also offer medical benefits to our patients. Protective acrylic splints, colloquially known as night guards, are used by both cosmetic and general dentists as adjunct supports to a variety of traditional and restorative treatment options.
Experience has proven that consistent use of these oral appliances can often lessen the need for more drastic and expensive dental procedures later down the line.
General dentists and cosmetic dental experts often prescribe oral appliances to help alleviate muscular problems. When used in this manner, a night guard will help the patient achieve a very significant relaxation of facial and jaw muscles.
Acrylic splints are also prescribed by as a form of preventative dental care. In fact, many Houston general dentists now see them as dental care basics equivalent in importance to fluorides, sealants, and floss. When acrylic splints are used in this manner, they help achieve several objectives.
Bruxism
Bruxism is the dental term for tooth grinding. Often patients do not know they are grinding their teeth until they notice tooth sensitivity or aching in their mouths.
After coming in for a dental appointment, close examination of the teeth reveals damage to the enamel due to excessive pressure and grinding.
Acrylic splints prevent teeth from making contact by separating the posterior teeth from the anterior teeth. This causes less pressure to be placed on the joint, and the disk within the joint as well.
TMJ dysfunction
Temporomandibular disorder, also known as TMD, is a cycle of pain, muscle spasms, and joint imbalance at the temporomandibular joint, or TMJ, where the joint meets the skull.
Only a thin disc of cartilage cushions these two bones is a thin disc of cartilage, and only five muscles support the joint.
When balance is lost between the muscles, cartilage, and bone, severe symptoms can erupt that include headaches, earaches, clicking sounds in the joint, aches in the joint, and difficulty opening and closing one's mouth.
In TMD patients with, nightguards are used to help control the pain and imbalance. Full time use of a nightguard, in conjunction with other medical treatments, can drastically lessen the sometime severe pain of this condition.
Periodontal disease
There are four progressions of Periodontitis, ranging from the common gingivitis to advanced Periodontal disease that can cause health problems in other parts of the body, such as the heart and the lungs.
In patients with moderate to advanced Periodontitis, splints are prescribed by general dentists in to distribute forces, decrease trauma, and to aid in the healing process following treatment.
This type of conservative treatment will have an increasingly important place in a preventive philosophy of patient treatment.
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