Mouth Splint Vs. Mouth Guard
Many terms used interchangeably do not necessarily mean the same thing. Such is the case with mouth splints and mouth guards. The difference between a mouth splint and a mouth guard can be seen in their names: A guard protects you, so mouth guards protect your teeth, while a splint holds two parts together to prevent unwanted or harmful movement, and that's exactly what dental splints do.
Mouth Splints
A mouth splint is constructed by dentists or dental laboratory technicians from hard dental acrylic. The dentist can either construct splints chair side or take an impression of your mouth that he sends to the dental laboratory for processing. There are several applications of splints in dentistry but the most popular one is when he constructs a splint to restrict the harmful effects of grinding, or bruxism.
Mouth Guards
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Mouth guards protect your mouth from harmful impact. You don't need to visit a dentist to get a mouth guard since they can be purchased over the counter, but if for any reason you need a close-fitting, custom-made mouth guard, it will have to be produced either by a dentist or made at a laboratory after the dentist takes an impression of your mouth.
Uses of Mouth Splints
Mouth splints are used for several purposes in dentistry. Of these, the most popular is in stress management. When you are stressed, you tend to unknowingly take it out on your teeth. You clench your cheek muscles and grind your teeth. This places your jaw joints under immense pressure and you could end up damaging your teeth and jaw joints. To reverse this, the dentist places a splint between your upper and lower teeth to discourage grinding.
- Mouth splints are used for several purposes in dentistry.
- This places your jaw joints under immense pressure and you could end up damaging your teeth and jaw joints.
Uses of Mouth Guards
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Mouth guards are built to protect your teeth from harmful blows during exercise and contact sports. They are most popular with boxers, though some other professional, recreational and competitive athletes also wear mouth guards. However, when mouth guards are expected to be worn, there is not 100 percent compliance, according to the April 2002 "Journal of Athletic Training," which reported that only 63 percent of college athletes playing ice hockey consistently wore mouth guards, despite regulations requiring them to be worn 3.
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References
- Medline Plus: Bruxism
- "Journal of Athletic Training"; Enforcement of Mouthguard Use; Kristen L et al; April-June 2002
- American Dental Association (ADA). Xerostomia (Dry Mouth). Department of Scientific Information, ADA Science Institute. Updated July 9, 2019.
- Bartels C. Xerostomia. The Oral Cancer Foundation. Updated October 15, 2018
- Barnhart MK, Robinson RA, Simms VA, et al. Treatment toxicities and their impact on oral intake following non-surgical management for head and neck cancer: a 3-year longitudinal study. Support Care Cancer. 2018;26(7):2341-2351. doi:10.1007/s00520-018-4076-6
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Candida Infections Of The Mouth, Throat, And Esophagus | Fungal Diseases | CDC. National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases (NCEZID), Division of Foodborne, Waterborne, and Environmental Diseases (DFWED). Updated November 13, 2019.
- V Sankar, N Rhodus, & the AAOM Web Writing Group. Xerostomia. The American Academy of Oral Medicine. Updated October 15, 2015.
- Rusthen S, Kristoffersen AK, Young A, Galtung HK, Petrovski BÉ, Palm Ø et al. Dysbiotic salivary microbiota in dry mouth and primary Sjögren's syndrome patients. PLoS One. 2019 Jun 18;14(6):e0218319. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0218319.
- V Sankar, N Rhodus & the AAOM Web Writing Group. Dry Mouth. The American Academy of Oral Medicine. Updated October 15, 2015.
- American Dental Association. Dry Mouth. Mouth Healthy. Updated January 2019.
- Men K, Geng H, Zhong H, Fan Y, Lin A, Xiao Y. A deep learning model for predicting xerostomia due to radiotherapy for head-and-neck squamous cell carcinoma in the RTOG 0522 clinical trial. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2019 Jun 12. pii: S0360-3016(19)30834-X. doi:10.1016/j.ijrobp.2019.06.009.
- National Institutes of Health. Dry Mouth. National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research. Updated January 2019.
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Writer Bio
Solomon Nwhator's writing experience dates back to 1999, when he was an oral health columnist. His writing specializes in finance, science fiction, technology, religion, society and other areas. He has authored several research papers in the area of dentistry and oral health and has been published by the World Health Organization. He is a dentist and consultant in periodontology.