Hey guys, I hope you are having a wonderful day. Today, I’d like to explain or answer this question of which you should really consider when you are having bruxism or chronic teeth grinding or jaw clenching. Should you consider buying a mouth guard, or should you consider dealing with the stress, or should you consider both? Let’s first understand what a night guard or a mouth guard does.

A night guard simply protects your teeth from further damage, especially when you are grinding during the night or even during the day. So, it basically just provides this coating so that the upper and lower teeth cannot grind each other. Of course, it will prevent further damage, right? But what I’ve learned from most teeth grinders is that they end up chewing these night guards. They end up eating them or, as they call it sometimes, retainers. So, they end up eating it.

Of course, logically speaking, if you end up eating something which is not food, of course, in the long-term effect, it may have an effect on your health because it is not really stopping the grinding but stopping further damage. But the grinding is still there.

So instead of you now grinding your teeth, you are grinding the night guard, and then you end up grinding and when. So, of course, you never know the negative side effects of eating something because you’ll end up ingesting that because you’re grinding it.

Of course, there are many studies in terms of when you are getting a night guard, get something which doesn’t have toxins with it. But you never know about these things, you know. Even if something has been researched as not having toxins, sometimes after a few years, they now say, “Hey, let’s stop using this material.”

So you end up ingesting these things because you’re using it at night. You never know the long-term health effects, right? Also, when you don’t deal with the chronic nature of your grinding, it doesn’t mean that you’ll end up replacing this night guard more often.

So normally, most night guards take like, I think, one to two years for you to, and you can use it for one to two years, and then replace it.

But most grinders, actually chronic grinders, they replace it after even one month. So now imagine the cost of those night guards, cost that replacing them every now and then.

Of course, it will be so costly to your pocket. That’s why getting that night guard should not be the only solution for you.

Yes, get it to prevent that further damage, but also look at how can I reduce the intensity of this grinding, which is now dealing with the stress or the thing which is fueling these grinding.

And what you’ll realize is, yes, you may still use that night guard, but at least you won’t be eating it or you won’t be replacing it as frequently, and you may even use it for a longer period of time, which will, of course, be less costly for you.

And the more there’s less cost for you, the more it will also be less frustrating for you because all these things are so intertwined. When you keep spending money on something which you can’t stop, you end up being frustrated, being stressed, and then you end up grinding more and more.

But when you start seeing that you’re seeing changes in your habit, of course, you’ll feel less stressed, and generally, you’ll feel much happier, and you’ll feel that this grinding is within your control.

So, don’t just look at getting the best night guard, look at also dealing with the stress which is making this habit so intense because, at the end of the day, when you deal with the stress, other areas in your life will improve.

You’ll realize that your relationship will improve, your performance at work will improve, your friendship will improve, or just you’ll become more productive, or just generally your life will improve because you are living life much lighter.

You are not here and there, you are not frustrated all the time, you’re not angry all the time, you’re feeling like you got everything or you’ve got your shit together by dealing with the stress. Yes, the stress would contribute to mild bruxism or you grinding your teeth less often, but at the same time, other areas in your life will improve.

So that’s what happens when you look at this problem holistically, not just as you’re looking for the best night guard, but looking at actually the stress you’re experiencing also trickles down to other areas in your life.

So if you now, yes, buy night guard, then deal with the stress, it will also trickle down to other areas in your life, and you’ll generally have a better quality of life.

You won’t spend time googling, fearing about your appearance because you’ve ground your teeth and now you’re having this jaw misalignment. You won’t be fearing about that because you’ll just be feeling worthy.

Do them side by side, but don’t just focus on the best night guard. In fact, dealing with the stress is more important because it reflects on other areas of your life and other areas of your physical or mental health. Night guard? Yes, use it, but also deal with the stress like the same. Invest on the stress; you’ll end up saving more money and saving your life. Hope you found that informative, guys.

Let me know your thoughts on using a night guard and having stress management techniques or just you using a night guard only to manage your chronic teeth grinding.