how do dental night guards help with jaw clenching? Aren’t my jaws biting down on the guard just as hard as they would be without it?

Question

I understand why it helps with grinding and protecting teeth, but not how it helps with jaw clenching. Thanks!

In: 2

Answer 1

Teeth are hard. Guards are soft. Teeth rubbing in soft thing is better than teeth rubbing on hard thing. Soft thing is also better than hard thing to squeeze against as there’s some give to it. It really for your teeth though.

Answer 2

I don’t think it’s meant to stop you from clenching your jaw. The intent is to protect your teeth from damage.

You can try exercises to help with the jaw clenching instead.

Answer 3

Your teeth don’t all touch at once, and when you sleep your normal alignment may change. This means that all that force is falling on a few teeth.

The mouth guard absorbs some of the force but also distributes the force