night guard for teeth

[redbird]

The ENT recommended an over-the-counter night guard to protect me from clenching my teeth/jaw in my sleep. I got one a few days ago, tried following the instructions on how to shape it, and found that it was uncomfortable enough that I couldn't fall asleep.

So, yesterday I tried reforming it, and seem to have gotten a better fit. It's still distracting, but less so:; I fell asleep with it on, woke in the middle of the night, took it out, and went back to sleep. I hope that even wearing it for part of the night will do some good, although so far it's not preventing the odd feeling in my ear that was the symptom that got me to the ENT in the first place.

The instructions say to put it in an hour before going to sleep. Whoever wrote that presumably sleeps alone, because having the thing in interferes with talking. My tentative plan is to put it on a few minutes before turning the light out, and see how it goes.

Comments

[tarasacon]

The dentist made ones tend to fit better, but are stupidly expensive. It doesn’t make sense that insurance doesn’t cover them as a preventative measure, but it doesn’t. I’ve been doing without for several years because of that. I keep browsing the reviews for OTC versions and getting discouraged before actually purchasing any.