Nightguards are special dental devices meant to be worn at night, and they serve a variety of purposes, from preventing teeth grinding to helping with jaw problems like TMJ, or even serving as an alternative to CPAP machines for sleep apnea.
At Pediatric Dental World, our dentists offer treatment for all of these issues and more with our custom-fitted nightguards. If you think your child could benefit from nightguard treatment, we’re here to help. Contact us online to schedule an appointment now.
Usually, you’ll need to come to Pediatric Dental World twice to get a nightguard for your child. Here’s an overview of what will happen at each appointment.
First, your child will come to Pediatric Dental World. Their pediatric dentist will clean their teeth gently, and then take scans, images, and impressions of their mouth. This information will be sent to a third-party dental lab, where lab technicians will build the nightguard for your child. You and your little one will be sent home.
In a few weeks, your child will come back to our office to pick up their nightguard. Their pediatric dentist will check the fit of the night guard and make sure everything looks good. You may also need to schedule a follow up in a few weeks to discuss your child’s treatment and assess their results.
If your child needs a night guard for teeth grinding or any other oral health issue, don’t use over-the-counter nightguards that you can buy at the drugstore. These nightguards can cause serious issues with their oral development, jaw position, and teeth alignment over time.
Your child’s mouth is always growing and changing, so using the wrong nightguard can interfere with their oral development. That’s why it’s important to get personalized, custom-fitted nightguards from the board-certified pediatric dentists at Pediatric Dental World.
Night Guards for kids are usually used to treat the following conditions at Pediatric Dental World.
Teeth grinding, also called “bruxism” happens when your child uncontrollably gnashes and clenches their teeth, often at night. It can contribute to other health issues like TMJ, and also may cause damage to their baby teeth or adult teeth. A night guard will cushion their teeth and prevent damage due to bruxism.
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Sleep apnea occurs when the soft tissues in the palate and airway sag and interrupt breathing while your child sleeps. This can happen hundreds of times per night, leading to serious health consequences. Special nightguards can be used to help with OSA by repositioning the jaws and preventing the tissue from sagging.
TMJ can be caused by a lot of things, and occurs when the small joints below the ears, which connect the jaw to the skull, are inflamed, damaged, or otherwise not functioning properly. A night guard can help reposition the jaw joints and muscles when your child sleeps, allowing these joints to heal and recover.
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