Did you know that your jaw has the most amount of proprioception, per surface area of any joint in your body? If your body doesn’t feel safe, movement is off, or in this case have something in your mouth, like a mouthguard or dental device. Your jaw and teeth will sense it. The Trigeminal Nerve, the largest cranial nerve in the body, powers the jaw as well as provides massive amounts of sensory information to your teeth, sinuses, face, and mouth. This nerve is ready to kick in, and believe me you will feel it! Although very typical in today’s world to wear a mouthguard while sleeping, in the long run, this may not be the best plan of action. In this blog post, I will discuss the 5 Ugly Truths about Wearing a Mouthguard and Why I finally decided to Ditch It!
- It doesn’t stop you from grinding your teeth. If anything, you may grind more while wearing it. Brownie points for saving the enamel, though!
- Putting something in your mouth and not swallowing it leaves you in sympathetics (aka fight or flight). You clearly never swallow your mouth guard, so there is no chance for parasympathetic (aka rest and digest) to kick in. Keeping you “on” while trying to sleep.
- Mouth Breathing vs Nose Breathing. Not breathing through your nose and keeping your mouth open keeps you in that vicious cycle of poor sleep, decreasing your chance of fighting off infections, lack of energy, poor concentration and focus. Leaving us prone to injury and keeping us in that tightness, discomfort, and pain trap.
- Grinding your teeth (aka bruxism) is considered a sleep movement disorder and can lead you down the dreaded sleep apnea pathway. Not having quality restful sleep can contribute to many health conditions down the road.
- Generally, the root cause is not addressed as to why you are even grinding in the first place.
A good dentist can help you with some bonding on your teeth and will respect whatever you decide in the meantime.
Learning how to breathe and move better can help take the edge off; so, you can start using your nose for breathing, mouth for eating, and teeth and jaw for chewing!
Stop training bad patterns, and give your body the support it needs.
Get your breathing and movement screening today.
You are destined for greatness!