I’ve wondered about the guard thing too. My dentist brought it up after I got my first crown, but I didn’t have any jaw pain or obvious signs of grinding, so I figured I was fine. Fast forward a year and the edge of my crown chipped—turns out I do grind, just not enough to notice during the day. Now I’m trying to be more proactive, but I get your point about not wanting to jump into extra costs unless there’s a real reason. It’s tricky figuring out when “prevention” is actually needed.
It’s tricky figuring out when “prevention” is actually needed.
Ha, story of my life. My wallet and my dentist are in a constant battle over “necessary” prevention. When I got my first crown, the whole night guard thing sounded like another upsell—like, “You want fries with that?” But then, a few months later, I woke up with what I thought was a popcorn kernel stuck on my tooth. Nope, just a tiny chip off my shiny new crown. Oops.
Turns out, I’m a stealth grinder too. No pain, no jaw clicks, just silent sabotage at 2am. I caved and got the guard, but I went for one of those boil-and-bite deals from the drugstore first. Not exactly glamorous, but it did the trick until I could save up for the fancy custom one.
Honestly, I get being cautious about extra costs. But if you’ve already chipped a crown, that’s like your mouth’s version of a warning light on the dashboard. Wish I’d listened to my dentist sooner, but hey...live and learn (and maybe grind a little less).
I get the whole “is this really necessary?” debate, but I gotta push back a bit on the boil-and-bite guards. They’re better than nothing for sure, but honestly, those things can be like wearing flip-flops to run a marathon—yeah, they’ll cover your feet, but you might regret it later. Custom guards aren’t just dentist bling; they actually fit right and protect your teeth (and that pricey crown) way better. Seen too many folks come in with cracked crowns and chewed-up store-bought guards... just saying, sometimes the “upsell” is legit.
I totally get what you’re saying about custom guards, but honestly, my boil-and-bite has been fine for me so far. Maybe I’m just lucky? My dentist checked mine and said it was doing its job. Guess it depends on how hard you grind at night.
I’m honestly jealous your boil-and-bite works for you. I can’t help but worry mine isn’t fitting right, even though my dentist said it’s fine too. Maybe I just overthink stuff, but I keep waking up checking for cracks in my crown... anyone else get that?