What Are The Best And Worst Dental Replacement Options If You Grind Your Teeth?

Bruxism, or teeth grinding, is an involuntary motion that can cause substantial damage to your teeth. If you have lost teeth to either the grinding, trauma, or general decay, the teeth grinding can also pose a risk to your dental replacement selected to fill the missing tooth or teeth gap.

You can discuss ways to minimize your teeth grinding with your dentist or cosmetic dentistry specialist. Treatments might include a mouth guard, physical therapy, stress relief tactics, and even potential jaw surgery. But there is still a risk your teeth grinding will continue and threaten your dental replacement once it is placed.

What are the best and worst dental replacements if you have a habit of teeth grinding?

Best: Removable Partial Dentures or Removable Partial Overdentures

The best dental replacement options for teeth grinding are those that can be removed before bed at night and thus will get out of the way of any excess pressure caused by the grinding. Two options exist and both are better suited for multiple missing teeth than a single missing tooth.

Partial dentures are artificial teeth arranged on a rigid plate, much the same as full dentures. But partials will have holes to allow for your existing natural teeth to poke through. Rather than relying on the jawbone for support, as is the case with full dentures, partial dentures use the natural teeth for support by utilizing metal hoops at each end that wrap around natural teeth. The partials can slip easily into and out of your mouth for removal before bed.

If you want a set of partial dentures that don't slip around as much while in your mouth, ask your dentist about the possibility of removable partial overdentures. The overdentures hook onto dental implant roots, which are metal screw-like roots inserted into the jawbone and then left to heal until the bone fuses the root into place. The overdentures will snap firmly into place but still be removable before bed to protect the teeth from your grinding habit.

Worst: Fixed Bridge, Fixed Overdenture or Dental Implant

The worst choices for teeth grinders are general the fixed dental replacement options which include fixed bridges, fixed overdentures (either partial or full), and single dental implants. The latter two options utilize the dental implant root system, which can become loosened with the frequent rubbing pressure of teeth grinding.

Dental bridges have a single artificial tooth in the center that is supported by artificial tooth caps that are bonded to the natural tooth on each side of the tooth gap. The full artificial tooth is essentially dangling in place held up only by those crowns. If your teeth grinding were to erode or crack one or both of those crowns, your bridge could fail and require immediate replacement.

For more information, consider contacting a professional like those at Pine Ridge Dental Group.  

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