Mouthguards for TMJ and how to choose them.

I am so confident that these will work for you, I give a 125% Guarantee that the SmartGuard night guard will reduce TMJ jaw pain, Tension headaches, ringing in the ears, reduce your clenching, and give you a better night sleep!

I give a 110% Guarantee that the RCM Double arch will reduce your jaw popping and clicking and jaw locking.

Our Refund policy is that the night guard(s) need to be returned... With a copy of the invoice for proof of purchase.
Within One year of the purchase date to... Dr. Spainhower 2112 N Hillfield Rd. Layton, Utah 84041.

Please keep in mind, that some of the guards rated very good in many categories, but when they rate poorly in the "Stays In Mouth" and "Comfortable in the Mouth"; sections, then even though a guard theoretically can perform well in a category, it doesn't mean much if it can't stay in the mouth. Because if it isn't in the mouth, it can't perform well. Also, when the night guard performs poorly at being "comfortable" then you don't have a quality good night's sleep. So, study the chart carefully and choose the guard best for your needs.

Good luck! If you have any questions, you can email me at TMJSpainhower at Gmail dot com.

Sincerely,

Dr. Spainhower

Mouth/Night Guard Reviews

The SmartGuard:

This is the best "Overall" best Night guard for TMJ Symptoms available. It also protects your teeth from the affects of grinding. The downfalls of this guard is that it won't be the best guard for you if you have a very small mouth, a small arch width of your teeth or a very high palate. Generally it will work for about 80% of the population. Also, if you have an end to end bite in the front teeth, it may not work well for you.

The problem is that the alternatives are much worse in many different areas, so my recommendation is to try the SmartGuard first, because it most likely will work better for you.

The surprising symptom that this guard reduces, is the tension headache and even some "migraine" headaches. It seems that the most common symptom relieved as much as jaw pain, is the headache. Statistics show that 82% of headache sufferers will have a 77% reduction in their headaches from wearing this guard.

The SmartGuard is the best one that I've found that you can buy off the Net, and it's a lot cheaper compared to the ones you get from your Dentist.

There are big differences, and you as a Consumer would never know the difference of which one works best unless you tried multiple guards.

Now I have done the work for you. If you're wanting a Night Guard, get this one...

The SmartGuard Night Guard.

Read Testimonials

The Doctor's Night Guard:

I recommend this one for teeth protection only. But be carefull, because if you want it to reduce TMJ pain, it's best if you modify it as I describe in my "TMJ Appliance" page on my website www.mytmjdentist.com. If you don't, it's a 50/50 chance that it'll reduce your pain.

This guard has a flat biting surface which is what you want to reduce pain (with a full tooth coverage guard) the quickest and have the fewest possibilities of causing you pain.

The biggest problem with this guard is the difficulty of molding it to your teeth/mouth. Here are some tips to help you successfully mold it to your teeth...

After pulling the guard out of the boiling water, place it in your mouth on your top teeth and...bite down hard...I mean hard. Bite down so that your upper teeth bite all the way down to the inside bottom hard layer material.

Keep the guard in your mouth for about 3 minutes when fitting it to your teeth. It's a long time to keep in but it'll help reduce distortion after taking it out to cool it in cooling water. After the 3 minutes, then take it out and cool it under running tap water.

Now, if you want to relieve pain, cut the back ends off. Cut off of the guard where the last two big molars are impressed in the guard. That will give you the best pain relieve possible other than the SmartGuard of any guard available right now.

Dentek Custom Comfort Night Guard:

This is was a very good one as well, but Dentek changed the design, and now it is worse for TMJ sufferers. I don't recommend this one for pain relief unless you modify it like I've described on my website.

This guard is lighter and fits more loosley than The Doctor's Night Guard.

It has a flat surface to bite against, which helps reduce the chances of causing you pain, and hopefully will reduce your pain. Cut off the back ends like I've described and it'll reduce your pain better.

This one is lighter and comfortable but it may not last as long as others.

The Aqualizer:

The Aqualizer design is brilliant! It is the best guard to be worn during the day. I've spoken to the owners, and they say that the Aqualizer was made for a diagnostic tool for Dentists to diagnose whether the patients' pain is caused by a bad bite or not. Bottom line is that is does not work well when wearing it at night especially for wearing it for long periods of time. It just isn't designed to last as long as the other guards available. It flops around and you will not get a good night's sleep compared to other night guards.

So, my recommendation is to buy the Aqualizer for DAYTIME use only (if needed), and wear an effective night guard of your choice while sleeping.

This guard is one of the few guards that I've tested that is specifically made to reduce TMJ pain...but, it is not a slam dunk. this one is better than all others to wear during the day, because it allows you to speak almost normally, so you can wear it during the day. I didn't like this one personally at night though, it kept me up thinking that I was going to inhale it and it flopped around in my mouth a bit that kept me awake.

But, it is the best guard to wear during the day when you have to go to work etc.

The Dentek Comfort fit Night Guard:

This is a very small and light guard. It was developed primarily to prevent you from grinding your teeth. It does protect your teeth, but then again any guard made will protect your teeth if it stays between your teeth and in your mouth.

This guard is on the low end of my recommendation list because it is small enough to inhale and can flop around your mouth a bit. But, some people may like this one, and does have the possibility to reduce TMJ pain due to the change in proprioception of the muscles and how they contract. Still, this is on the bottom of my recommendation list to reduce TMJ pain.

Tip #1 if you purchase this one...push the biting tabs all the forward towards the front of your mouth to help reduce pain, and reduce the chances of causing more pain.

The TMJ Appliance:

This night guard was specifically designed to relief TMJ symptoms as well as the Aqualizer and SmartGuard. The design of it is creative and fundamentally is good to position the jaw more forward during sleeping time, to relieve pressure on the TemporoMandibular Joint. That it does, and does work well. The problem with this guard is that it does promote clenching at the same time, and is a mouth full. It is the biggest guard on the market which makes a good night's sleep improbable.

The best aspects of this guard is that it'll reduce your jaw locking, popping and clicking, which is a great benefit that most all other OTC night guards fail miserably at. Only the RCM Double Arch performs better at preventing Lock jaw and the popping and clicking that occurs with the slipping disc in the TMJoints.

The TMJ Appliance is Not a boil and bite, so it's easy to fit in your mouth. The problem is that it is a One size fits all nonmoldable big cumbersome guard.If you have severe Lock Jaw and popping, this guard can reduce those symptoms great

The Sleep Right Rx famliy of guards , made by Splintek:

They have two guards, the Dura-Comfort and the Slim-Comfort.

The Dura-Comfort is more durable and stronger. I personally like this over the Slim-comfort.

Ok, both of these will protect your teeth from the affects of grinding. But, they are not the best ones to choose for TMJ pain reduction...although, because of different muscle contractions due to the changes in proprioception, these guards can reduce your TMJ pain, not as likely as others, but might work.

Tip...If you choose to purchase one of these guards, move the biting tabs forward, towards the front of your mouth for best results.

The RCM family of guards:

RCM has three guards. The double arch guard...the upper arch guard...and the lower arch light guard.

I wouldn't buy either of the upper or the lower (light) arch guards for pain relief. They might relieve some pain, but they also cause more clenching. More clenching can make your pains worse or slow down your pain treatment.

The double arch guard can help you reduce your popping and clicking in your TMJ joints as it holds your lower jaw in a forward position. This can reduce TMJ pain and at the same time reduce your dislocating TMJ disc.

You'll wake up in the morning with the teeth unable to close together of an hour or so. So, it is a trade off...can't bite teeth together for an hour or so, verses, sensitive teeth as this guard does promote a bit more clenching throughout the night.

I recommend this one only if you have significant issues with popping, clicking or locking jaws while you sleep.

The Doctor's Night Guard Advanced Comfort:

This guard was developed to reduce the bulky feeling at the front
upper lip area. I don't like this one much because, it is not as stable as "The Doctor's Night Guard Classic". If you just want to protect your teeth from the affects of grinding your teeth, then this one will work. But, for TMJ pain reduction, try other guards, as others will work better, more often, for more people.

If you modify this guard like I describe on my website, it'll probably fall out of your mouth easier than other guards.

Not high on my recommendation list.

Update: I have recently found, purchased and wrote up reviews on two TMJ Exercise programs. They are similar TMJ Exercises that my TMJ Physical Therapist uses to treat my TMJ patients. Click here to read reviews on TMJ Exercise products

Before I go into the different aspects of mouth guards, there's one thing that I should mention here. Most all mouth guards that are sold over the internet and in stores are mostly bad for TMJ sufferers.

In General, the over the counter guards will most likely cause more TMJ problems if they are not modified. Although, sometimes they will aleviate TMJ symptoms for some of you, for reasons I explain below. But generally, they have the potential to and will most likely cause more pains.

I explain how to modify OTC mouth guards to help you with TMJ pains on my "TMJ Appliance" page here on this website.

I think I'll call the modification technique...the Spainhower method. I haven't seen it explained anywhere else, so why not.

So, go to the "TMJ Appliance" page to learn the "Spainhower Method" to modify over the counter mouth guards to help you with your TMJ.

OK, Before I talk about specific mouthguards for TMJ, I'll go over a few things that hopefully will make sense to you to help you choose which mouth guard is right for you.

There are dozens and maybe hundreds of mouth guards out there, and I can't cover them all, but I'll go over what I think are the important aspects about wearing and choosing mouthguards.

Update: Welcome, I have recently placed a few mouth guards on the website to purchase.

As I have searched out, purchased and acquired a dozen more popular mouthguards that are available on the Internet.

I have tested them for 3 months every night and the best overall mouth guard is....Drum roll please....."The SmartGuard Night Guard".

Update: I have recently found, purchased and wrote up reviews on two TMJ Exercise programs. They are similar TMJ Exercises that my TMJ Physical Therapist uses to treat my TMJ patients. Click here to read my reviews on TMJ Exercise products

Flexible Mouth Guards:

Click here to go to Flexible Mouth Guards

Hard TMJ Splints.

Click here to go to Hard TMJ Splints

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Mouthguards for TMJ

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Flexible Mouth Guards:

Hard TMJ Splints.