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Grinding your teeth or snoring at night might seem harmless, but they can have harmful effects on your health. Snoring can be a sign of sleep apnea, a serious health condition that causes breathing to stop during sleep periodically.
Teeth grinding and/or clenching causes wear on your teeth and can lead the facial muscles to become sore and overworked. About 20% of the adult population engages in this behavior, and it is a common response to a stressful life. At Zak Dental we recommend using a Night Guard to lessen both of these problems.
Night guards are made of rigid or semi-rigid materials such as acrylic that is processed in a laboratory. Easily inserted and removed by the patient, they are generally designed to be worn over the biting surfaces of either the upper or lower teeth.
Night guards can prevent damage to teeth and dental restorations, saving you the time, expense, and potential discomfort of correcting problems caused by jaw clenching, teeth grinding, tooth wear, malocclusion, and bad habits.
They can also be used to treat patients with temporomandibular joint (TMJ) dysfunction and pain, and people who suffer from discomfort and fatigue in the jaw and facial muscles.
It is important to understand how night guards work. This will help you decide if you are a patient who could benefit from the use of night guards.
If you live in Southern California, feel free to schedule a New Patient Visit with us in Zak Dental offices in Agoura Hills, Covina/San Dimas, Downey, Long Beach, North Park, San Diego, Santa Barbara, Simi Valley, Temecula, Valencia, Ventura, and Whittier/La Mirada, California.
Please Call us at 833-ZAK-TEAM with any additional questions you would like us to answer.
Could I be suffering from Sleep Apnea at night and can a night guard be an effective solution for me?
What is sleep apnea or obstructive sleep apnea?
Sleep apnea is a condition in which the normal flow of air to a person’s lungs is interrupted for periods of 10 seconds or more during sleep. Some patients may experience more than 30 interruptions per hour, which is considered severe.
The significance of sleep apnea is that blood oxygen levels can drop, depriving many of the body’s organ systems, including the heart and brain, of this vital ingredient.
Sleep apnea comes in two main types.
In central sleep apnea, even though the airway itself (the nasal passages, throat, etc.) may be clear and unobstructed, the brain fails to tell the muscles to breathe. Central sleep apnea can be caused by several conditions.
In obstructive sleep apnea, the airway becomes partially or completely blocked during sleep, reducing the flow of air to the lungs when the patient tries to breathe. Obstructions can occur anywhere in the airway. They are most common in the nose or mouth, soft palate, and throat.
Normal airflow may be reduced by enlarged tonsils or adenoid tissue; by obesity; by deformation or displacement of the nasal bones or cartilage; by excessive relaxation of the tongue, neck, or jaw muscles from alcohol or sedatives; or simply by the natural anatomical position of the jaw during sleep, which may allow the tongue and throat muscles to reduce the size of the airflow pathways to the lungs – just as kinking a garden hose reduces the flow of water through it.
This is especially true for patients who have a small lower jaw and a convex facial profile.
When a patient’s breathing pauses during sleep, he or she may naturally attempt to open the obstructed airway by breathing through the mouth, which can cause snoring.
Less serious consequences of sleep apnea include daytime sleepiness, forgetfulness, mood swings, difficulty concentrating, and decreased energy, but more serious problems are possible.
They include depression, car and equipment crashes, erectile dysfunction, heart disease, convulsions, and stroke.
Patients with sleep apnea are less likely to have the motivation and energy to engage in physical activity, which is essential to their overall well-being. This can lead to weight gain, obesity, type 2 diabetes, and other chronic diseases. It can also make treatment more difficult.
Chronic sleep apnea can also lead to an increase in the growth of blood vessels and the formation of tumors, which can lead to an increased incidence of cancer.