Joined: 13 Jun 2007 Posts: 116 Location: northeast
Bite Changes ? Posted: 06-20-07 13:07pm
Hi everyone, I'm cindy. i would like to
ask another question.? Does it matter tho
if your bite is changed a little bit from
a mouth guard? does that matter?i have
always wondered about this. what does
everyone think on it? think of all the
people in the world that have all kinds of
missing teeth and no tmj? or does it just
drive us crazy because our jaws hurt?
thanks cindy
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catswold
Supporter
Joined: 10 Oct 2005 Posts: 404 Location: Flint, Michigan
Posted: 06-21-07 08:08am
Hi Cindy,
Frequently the purpose of a bite splint is
to change the bite. That would be the
case of a repositioning splint and
functional jaw orthotic, etc. The bite
often needs to change to "fix" the TMJ
problem. The muscles do not like the way
the teeth come together so they are
rebelling (spasms, pain). In these cases,
there usually are phases of treatment -
Phase 1 being the splint and Phase 2
permanently fixing the bite with crown,
overlays, bridges, braces, etc. There is
usually a Phase 3 also but I am unsure
what they do at that point (maybe
retainers or follow-up visits?)
You need to ask your dentist what his/her
goal is for the splint once the pain is
under some sort of control. So, to answer
your question - yes, the bite can change
when wearing a splint (but find out why
and what's going to be done about it).
