I just wanted to give a quick update on my Nightguard. I got it eight weeks ago. I got it while also getting a brutal filling done, with a more hardcore local anesthetic called Carbocane. Heavy stuff! The left half of my mouth filled with a numbing lifelessness, and an unpleasant electric-like tingle ran along my tongue, as if touched to a 9-volt battery. This quickly ebbed, but at times the numbing felt cold, like a focused ice cream headache. After this, I got my Nightguard.
At first, the Nightguard looks like a silly piece of plastic, akin to something you might purchase in a joke shop. A lot actually goes into it, however. You have to put it under warm water for around 30 seconds so that it can become pliable, then you put it over your top teeth. It has an exact mold of your teeth, so it stays in place while you sleep. This prevents your jaw from grinding during the night. You also have to brush it with a toothbrush every day, or plaque can build up on it. I find it funny how dentists call it calculus, seeing as how I had to take two semesters of it in college!
So does it work? They of course could not say that it would cure it. I still notice a little jaw popping, but it has gotten better, and more importantly, my ears haven’t felt stuffy. I originally became concerned because my hearing felt off for around a week. I went to an ear doctor, and he told me it came from TMJ, which brought me to my dentist. Speaking of, if you live in the area, then you should go where I go! I’ve gone since childhood, and they have always taken care of me.
Decrescenzo, Dante: 145 N Narberth Ave. Narberth, Pennsylvania 610.667.6630.
Tell them I sent you!
For other articles I’ve written about my progress with TMJ, go here.
