Are the night guards available for purchase online the same quality of those your dentist makes for you?
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Answer:
The teeth and the related structures such as the jaws and muscles for chewing are very complex. Likewise several complications can arise from an incorrect night guard. I would ask yourself these questions before making your own night guard.
Do you know where your bite should be when you are sleeping? Should your lower teeth be as far back as they can go or should they be sticking out? Do you understand how the teeth slide together and what muscles are activated in grinding? Do you know how teeth can continue to erupt when they are not held in the proper position? If you develop pain in your jaw joints, do you know how to adjust the night guard to relieve this pain? How close to the gums should the border of the night guard be to not cause problems with the gums? How thick should the material be? What are the benefits of using a soft night guard vs. a hard night guard? Are you sure that during sleep your night guard will not come loose and get lodged in your airway? How will you keep your teeth from decaying due to the time they will be covered in the night guard without contact with saliva?
These and many more are questions a dentist considers in fabricating a custom night guard for a patient. If you haven't been to dental school and taken courses in occlusion (how the teeth work together with the muscles and jaws), you shouldn't be making a night guard. I know nothing about cars, so I take my car to a mechanic...I don't try to fix it myself.
No. The dentist will make a proper bite registration and the appliance will be made to fit only YOUR teeth and jaw relationship. A store-bought appliance is "average" in configuration. Sometimes you get lucky, but sometimes you do more harm than good.
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