Grinding of teeth at night or bruxism is a very frequent and treacherous dental problem where patients start to press their teeth against each other with elementary force while sleeping.

Imagine a long-lasting, crampy pressure when the upper and lower jawbone press against each other with huge force. The most frequent root cause of bruxism is held to be stress when the body cannot take a proper rest even at night due to a continuous mental pressure. When we sleep, we „relive” the problems haunting us during the day, our muscles tighten up and an unhealthy movement pattern develops. Our teeth get overloaded and suffer extreme wear, the characteristic cusps disappear and wedge-like voids develop at the neck of teeth.

Teeth become sensitive to heat effects, fillings and tooth substitutions may fracture, esthetic veneers may splinter, temporomandibular problems may develop.

We wake up in the morning with our face numb, our mouth does not open properly and our masticatory muscles feel tired because of the night tone.

The night guard is a flexible (rubberlike) cover prepared by the dental lab based on a cast of the patient’s dentition taken by the dentist. When placed on the upper or lower or both dentitions, the guard is capable of absorbing the forces arising from pressing the teeth together.

As an intermediary, use of a perfectly fitting night guard will not stop the pressing together of teeth at first (!) but it will help relax the masticatory muscles and silence the unpleasant grinding sounds. Its long-term use may even eliminate the root causes of bruxism.

Besides, Avicenna Dental also produces customized gumshields for sports use.