Functional therapy and splint therapy
Tooth grinding and tooth clenching
Our services
The chewing muscle (masseter muscle) is the most powerful muscle in the human body. A force of 20-30 Newtons is usually generated when chewing, but forces of up to 800 Newtons can be generated, without us even noticing. People who grind their teeth at night press down much harder and longer than they do when chewing. This huge increase in force primarily occurs as a result of stress, and has painful side-effects on the jaw joints and the head, neck and shoulder area.
Do you wake up in the morning feeling tense or with a headache? Do your jaw joints or chewing muscles hurt? Do your upper and lower teeth seem to somehow no longer fit together?
If so, you may be grinding (bruxism) or clenching your teeth. This usually happens at night and leads to overloading of the teeth, which can cause a loss of vertical dimension in advances cases. The teeth become “shorter” and the upper and lower jaw move closer together, resulting in a lowering of the bite.
Bite splint, snore guard and protective sports guard
The main factor is usually stress, as well as poor stress management. A customized bite splint protects the teeth, improves the symptoms, relieves the pressure on the teeth and relaxes the muscles. In some cases, physiotherapy may be required, or the tooth height may need to be restored (occlusal elevation) using composite or ceramic. This is a complex treatment that can be prevented with early intervention.
We also offer snore guards that can effectively prevent snoring at night without the need for surgical intervention. In many cases, these guards not only prevent snoring, but also reduce breathing interruptions (sleep apnea).
Protective sports guards for high-risk sports, martial arts, contact sports and ball games are individually manufactured for you and help prevent tooth accidents. It is important that these guards are comfortable to wear as well as providing the protective function that can help to avoid expensive dental treatment. At our practice, we will happily advise you on bite splints, snore guards and protective sports guards. We will make sure that the guards are individually produced to a high quality, and will be on hand to assist you with any issues while wearing the guards.
