How To Properly Care For Your Mouth Guard?

Mouthguards are oral appliances helpful to protect your teeth from clenching and grinding sleep apnea and injuries if involved in contact sports. Mouthguards are also beneficial in reducing snoring to relieve obstructive sleep apnea.

While functioning as protective devices to safeguard your mouth, mouthguards also need appropriate care, especially if you are wearing a device explicitly customized for you by the pediatric dentist near me instead of over-the-counter appliances often purchased by many despite not offering adequate protection.

Many people often assume mouthguards don’t need any attention as they think they are created from durable plastic. In most cases, people purchase thermoplastic or plastic mouthguards from sports goods stores and drugstores. Unfortunately, store-bought mouthguards are not stable as the customized variety available from mouth guards in Milford, CT, is often discarded after a few days of use. Over-the-counter mouthguards are also affordable, unlike customized mouthpieces making people think they can afford to throw them out for a new device.

Many people opt for customized mouthpieces from dentists costing higher prices but offering superior protection against injuries from sporting activities, sleep apnea, and bruxism. However, personalized mouthguards require appropriate care every day, similar to your teeth, because the appliances remain in your mouth when playing sports or sleeping at night by wearing them to help relieve clenching and grinding of teeth or snoring. Therefore dentists recommend you care for your mouthguard appropriately to prevent infections in your mouth and to safeguard your investment in the device to ensure it lasts longer than expected.

What Kind of Care do Mouthguards Need?

As oral appliances are worn in your mouth, mouthguards need appropriate care regardless of whether you use them for sporting activities or dental conditions affecting your quality of life. After getting new mouth guards near me fabricated explicitly for your mouth, you must inquire with the provider how to clean and what you can expect with the oral device. Your provider will undoubtedly provide instructions you must follow to ensure your mouthpiece offers a return on investment by caring for it appropriately.

Caring for Your Mouthguard

Cleaning Your Mouthpiece Correctly

After using the mouthguard during the day or night, you must ensure you clean the mouthpiece using your toothbrush and mouthwash by scrubbing it. The cleaning helps remove germs to keep it fresh until your subsequent use. You must also rinse the mouthpiece before every use and put it in your mouth.

Besides cleaning the mouthguard by brushing, you must also soak the mouthpiece in solutions that the pediatric dentist recommends to keep it free from plaque and tartar constantly building up on your teeth. For example, if excessive plaque and tartar accumulate on your teeth, you might need to soak the mouthpiece once a week to ensure you are soaking off tartar buildup.

Storing Your Mouthpieces between Uses

Proper storage of the mouthguard is also essential to keep it from warping or getting damaged by accidentally attracting the attention of your pets to chew and eat them. Therefore, you must ensure the mouthguard is stored away from pets and in the storage case provided by the dentist for optimal safety.

When traveling in hot weather, you must understand extreme heat can warp the mouthguard making it unfit for use. Therefore, the optimal way to store mouthguards is to use your backpack, briefcase, or purse when traveling.

How to Clean Mouthguards at Home?

Cleaning your mouthguard at home shouldn’t cause any challenges because the mouthpieces require similar attention to your teeth. You can use a soft-bristled toothbrush to clean the mouthpiece with nonabrasive toothpaste. However, you would find it beneficial to keep a separate toothbrush for cleaning the mouthpiece to avoid cross contamination of bacteria. To prevent damage to the expensive customized mouthguard, you must avoid hard bristled toothbrushes and abrasive toothpaste because they can damage the mouthpiece.

Besides using nonabrasive toothpaste and a soft-bristled toothbrush, you can also consider using soap and water for cleaning the mouthpiece. Using a mouthwash with antibacterial properties is also ideal for caring for your mouthguard.

When looking for options to clean your mouthguard, you might notice several suggestions by websites recommending the use of solutions not suggested for cleaning oral appliances. You must make all efforts to safeguard your investment in the mouthguard using recommended practices by your pediatric dentist and none other.

Finally, your mouthguard needs six-monthly dental checkups similar to your teeth to ensure it functions appropriately. The dentist providing the mouthpiece will check it for cracks and breaks and suggest replacing it if needed at the appropriate time.

Big Smiles Pediatric Dentistry provides customized mouthpieces for children, often involving sporting activities or getting injured on their mouths. If your kid needs an oral appliance to prevent injuries, we suggest you arrange a meeting with this practice to get the protection they need.