3 Reasons Why Your Child Needs a Night Guard

While everyone needs a good night’s sleep to function properly, the truth is that this can be hard to come by. For children, a poor night’s sleep could be caused by many things; maybe they were kept up at night because of a scary movie they watched or because they secretly downed a whole container of cookies right before going to bed. While these reasons are easier to pinpoint, there are other things that could be causing your children’s sleep difficulties.

For instance, your child could be unconsciously grinding their teeth throughout the night. Also known as bruxism, this is actually a very common childhood dental problem that could prevent your child from sleeping properly. 

What is bruxism and how can it be prevented?

When children with bruxism sleep, they subconsciously clench their jaws and grind their teeth against each other. A surefire way to tell they struggle with bruxism is if they complain of frequent headaches, facial pain, a sore jaw, chipped teeth, or waking up tired. 

As painful as that sounds, these symptoms can be resolved through the use of a nightguard. These devices protect your child’s teeth from the rigors of grinding and can easily be sourced from your pediatric dentist. 

To cement that point further, here are three reasons why you’ll need one to guarantee a good night’s sleep for your child.

It prevents damage on teeth

A night guard fits over the affected teeth to prevent them from touching directly. This preserves the teeth and enamel from injury and excessive wear and tear. Since it intercepts contact between teeth, it also reduces the impact of teeth grinding and jaw clenching, which has the potential to fracture or crack teeth.

Wearing a nightguard spreads the biting forces of the jaw over its surface. Jaws, in general, are extremely powerful implements of a body. Clenching or grinding them can put hundreds of pounds of pressure on the teeth and jaws over the course of one night’s sleep—which inevitably causes the pain a child feels when they wake up.

A night guard significantly diminishes the damage this can cause, especially on the temporomandibular joint—a complex hinge that allows our jaws to move. 

It keeps your smile healthy and bright

Prevention is integral to a healthy smile, and that’s where the night guard shines best. It provides overall protection to your teeth and jaws at night, which can help prevent discoloration caused by worn teeth from teeth grinding.

Furthermore, it also helps preserve any dental work that can be undone through teeth grinding, which saves you money in the process. Not only will your child get to keep their wonderful, healthy smile, but they’ll have a healthy night’s sleep to boot!

Final Thoughts

A night guard can be key to your child’s sweet dreams, but there’s a few things you should consider. Since children’s teeth change fairly quickly, between losing baby teeth to growing adult teeth, a fitted night guard may not be the perfect fit for your child’s ever-changing smile. 

If you think your child might be suffering from teeth grinding and jaw clenching at night, a thorough examination from a dental checkup will pinpoint the exact causes. If a night guard is recommended to regain a good night’s sleep, make sure to consult a dental professional for a custom night guard that’s most suitable for your child.  

Charlotte NC Dentist is the premier directory to locate top dentists in Charlotte, North Carolina to treat your unique needs. Does your child need a dental check-up? Get in touch with us, and we’ll connect you to the nearest and best dentists!