Wednesday, May 18, 2011

First night of freedom.

I have worn a night guard since 1998.  For four months in 2009, I wore a removable palatal expander and then went back to a night guard.  For nearly 10 months, I wore a special splint for my jaw.  Now that I have braces, I am splint/night guard free for the first time in 13 years!  I was a little nervous about sleeping without any sort of "protection." (heh...)  But let me tell you, it was wonderful!  I didn't wake up with any more tension than I did with the splint, and it was soooooo nice to not have a huge chunk of plastic stuck in my mouth.  To give you an idea of how awful that splint was, I am incredibly relieved to finally have braces.  My mouth feels so free.  Yay!
Posted by Ellie at 6:01 PM
Labels:

5 comments:

  1. AnonymousMay 18, 2011 at 8:16 PM

    Hi Ellie! Glad you have been checking out my blog! I am now following you too! I wish I had worn a mouthguard since 1998 because I would have saved my teeth some damage. Unfortunately I didn't start until about 2 years ago. Anyway, I too was nervous about not wearing one while in braces. I too had a splint my dentist fit for me. So after much trial and error, I found a cheap store bought guard that will work with braces. It basically just lays in your mouth and will protect your teeth if you clench or grind. It sells on Amazon for $10 I think. If you are interested, let me know and I will get you the link. It took me a long time to get used to it, without it falling out in the middle of the night. But I ended up wearing it every night while I had braces, up until the night before my surgery! It is weird for me this past week not having it. My doctor will not let me use it post-surgery. It is hard for me to sleep because I am so scared I will start grinding or clenching and wear down my teeth.

    ReplyDelete
  2. EllieMay 20, 2011 at 8:54 AM

    Thank you! I'd be grateful for the link. (You're looking great post-op by the way!)

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousMay 20, 2011 at 3:34 PM

    Thanks, Ellie! Here is the link. I wear it on my lower teeth so I cut part of the lower ridge so it wouldn't dig in my gums. Va-la!

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousMay 20, 2011 at 3:54 PM

    Okay, now here is the link for real... Lol.

    http://www.amazon.com/TotalGard-StressGard-Night-Tooth-Guard/dp/B000X2BSAG/ref=pd_sim_sg_3

    ReplyDelete
  5. EllieMay 20, 2011 at 4:55 PM

    Thank you!!

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)