Mouthguard for grinding nightmares...?

This is a follow-up to a question I asked yesterday :http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;...





I got a hard plastic mouthguard for my upper teeth from my dentist about recently and had been concerned that it was too tight because I felt a lot of pressure from it pushing on my right canine tooth.





Now, I used the mouthguard again last night and woke up in the middle of the night with the top half of my mouth absurdly sore (i guess it would have been sore in the gums and upper jjaw?). This has never happened to me before, as whenever I was sore from grinding (before I got the mouthguard) I was always sore in the lower half of my mouth/gums. My upper gums/jaw is still sore now, 5 hours later.





So my question is, could this be from the mouthguard being too tight? Or am I just grinding really hard and the mouthguard is transfering the forces up rather than down like I'm used to?





My dentist can't see me for a week...

Mouthguard for grinding nightmares...?
I'm a dentists. It is most likely that the pain is caused from the mouthgurad being to tight. This happens quite a lot some times there will be several adjustments made to it before it is completely comfortable for you. Also you are still grinding at night and this combined with the tightness is putting a lot of extra pressure on your teeth. The reason you are feeling the pain in your gums is because it is what we call referred pain. The added pressure on your teeth is causing your gums to become sore. Now this is completely up to you. But I would suggest that you stop using the mouthguard and wait to see your dentists. You will be seeing him/her in a week so that's' good. You wont do much more damage to your teeth in a week.
Reply:I would call your dentist %26amp; ask this question over the phone. They will talk to you on the phone if you're having a problem. If they can't talk to you right away, I would stop wearing the mouthguard until you can get the proper advice. Good luck.
Reply:If you do not have to force the nightguard into place then it's not too tight. If you do have to force it it may well be the problem, and it's a simple adjustment to help it.


When the nightguard is in place and you close your jaws together it should slide on several points. If when you close your jaws together with the nightguard in it hits only in the area of the sore tooth (teeth) the bite on the nightguard needs to be adjusted. In either case, it's a quick, simple adjustment for your dentist to do.





Steve Bornfeld, DDS
Reply:call the dentist for advice till your appointment.



mens health