Does your child play contact sports like football, soccer, lacrosse, or hockey? Are you experiencing tooth pain from clenching your teeth? We offer mouthguards in Worcester, MA, for children who play sports and protection for adults who experience teeth clenching and grinding. Mouthguards are key pediatric dental treatments at Children’s Dental Specialties that help prevent injury or wear to the natural smile. Wearing a mouthguard can stop damage to the teeth and gums.
The Benefits of Mouthguards for Children in Worcester, MA
Wearing a mouthguard can protect the smile. Our office offers custom sports mouthguards to help children prevent damage to their teeth and gums. They can also protect braces. Our night guards are similar to mouthguards. However, we recommend night guards for patients with TMJ disorders.
Sports Mouthguards
Children wear mouthguards for contact sports or sports with any contact between players. Common contact sports can include soccer, lacrosse, hockey, and basketball. Custom sports mouthguards provide:
- Comfort and protection against hits to teeth or orthodontic appliances
- Ability to speak and drink
- Protection from accidentally biting the tongue and cheek
- No need to bite down or clench the teeth to keep them in place
- Fun, bright mouthguard colors, and colorful cases
Children who play low-contact or no-impact sports can benefit from a sports mouthguard. There is always a chance that your child sustains a hit to the mouth during a contact sport. Your child can come into contact with a ball, sports equipment, or the ground when they play.
Wearing a mouthguard can prevent broken, chipped, and lost teeth or damage to braces. Your child can wear a mouthguard if they have braces. We highly recommend that your child receives a sports mouthguard if they have braces to prevent damage to the wires and brackets. Our office will customize the mouthguard so it can comfortably cover their braces.
Sports mouthguards should not feel loose. If your child has a loose sports mouthguard, they may need to clench their jaw to keep their mouthguard in place. An ill-fitting athletic mouthguard can cause distraction during a game. If your child clears their jaw to keep their mouthguard on their teeth, it can encourage bad oral health habits that stress the teeth.
Teeth Grinding Night Guards
Night guards are different from sports mouthguards. Adult patients with bruxism benefit from custom-made oral appliances worn during the night. Teeth clenching and grinding, also known as bruxism, often occurs unconsciously. Bruxism is a common symptom of TMJ disorders that create discomfort in the teeth, face, and jaw. Wearing a night guard during sleep can also stop additional symptoms like jaw pain, headaches, and tooth wear.
Custom-made professional night guards can:
- Reduce jaw pressure
- Prevent tooth wear and injuries
- Combat symptoms like morning headaches
We often recommend a professionally made, custom night guard if you have TMD. Store-bought night guards do not offer a custom fit. These night guards may also worsen symptoms like teeth grinding over time because they are made of soft materials. Softer plastic encourages you to chew on your night guard.
A custom-made professional night guard is made of hard acrylic. It will fit your smile and prevent problems like jaw pain and tooth wear because of its quality materials.
Are Mouthguards and Night Guards the Same?
Sports mouthguards and night guards are not interchangeable. You can’t wear a sports mouthguard at night to treat teeth grinding, and you can’t wear a night guard during contact sports. Sports mouthguards for regular contact sports only cover the top teeth. This is because the top teeth often protrude further out than the bottom teeth.
Alternatively, night guards can cover the top or bottom teeth. Night guards can last for several years with the right care. A night guard is not the best option if your child has teeth-grinding problems. Wearing a night guard can impact their tooth development. However, we recommend night guards for adults.
We often recommend getting a new sports mouthguard if your child loses their baby teeth. As your child loses baby teeth and permanent teeth grow, their mouthguard can fit differently.
A good rule of thumb is to replace mouthguards after every season. You may also replace night guards if there is significant wear to the plastic. Worn mouthguards will not fit properly and will not provide enough protection to the teeth and gums. It’s best to contact our office so we can create a replacement mouthguard as soon as possible.
Sports Mouthguard Treatment
Our dental office works with local dental laboratories to create custom mouthguards. We take intraoral scans, a modern alternative to traditional dental impressions, to capture an image of the smile. The scans do not require goopy, messy material. We use a handheld device to scan over each tooth to take intraoral scans. After we send dental impressions of teeth, lab technicians create the mouthguard.
Sports mouthguards are made of rubbery plastic material that covers the front of teeth. Your child will try on their new sports mouthguard during a second appointment. We may adjust the mouthguard to ensure it feels comfortable and fits properly. Then, we will send them home with their new mouthguard and case.
How to Care for Sports Mouthguards
We will tell your child how to clean and care for their mouthguard. It’s best to clean sports mouthguards before and after each use. Lukewarm water and antibacterial soap can easily clean the mouthguard. There are also dissolvable mouthguard cleaners you can use to soak your mouthguard. Cleaning mouthguards also keeps them smelling fresh.
Once your child cleans their mouthguard, they must keep it in its case. Patients can lose their mouthguards if they do not keep them in their cases. We also recommend that patients wrap their oral appliances in paper towels and place them in their case to dry. Patients can accidentally throw away their mouthguard if they keep it in a paper towel.
Protect Your Child’s Smile
Does your child need an athletic mouthguard? Call Children’s Dental Specialties in Worcester, MA, for mouthguards at (508) 625-5534. You can also schedule a dental appointment with us on our website.