Introduction
The oral cavity is the entry point for the entire digestive tract. This is where food is crushed, salivated and then transported further. The teeth, chewing muscles and jaw joint play a decisive role in this process.
They must be coordinated with each other. If this is not the case, far-reaching complaints can occur. The temporomandibular joint in the human body performs countless tasks every day.
It starts when we have breakfast in the morning, swallow our food or talk throughout the day. It is almost permanently in use and never lets us down. However, it can also happen that it suddenly starts to hurt and crack.
Some people have these problems especially in the morning after getting up or after getting new dentures. The movements become uncomfortable and everything feels somehow stiff and tight. The cause can be a temporomandibular joint disease. An inflammation may have been triggered, a craniomandibular dysfunction may be present or the joint may have been damaged by an accident. Therapy measures should be as little invasive as possible, so that splints are often used to protect the temporomandibular joint from incorrect loading.
General information on the crunch splint
The bite splint is used to regulate the masticatory system. Another term is the crunch splint. This name is derived from the clinical picture of the crunching, which is to be eliminated by the application of the splint.
It is an unconscious strong pressing and rubbing of the teeth during sleep, which leads to the grinding of the enamel layer. The resulting noise is so loud that the sleep of the spouse is severely disturbed. The cause for such behaviour can be stress or even mental disturbances.
Therefore, a possible psychosomatic treatment is also recommended. Therefore, the bite splint is worn only at night, mainly on the teeth of the lower jaw, and does not eliminate the unconscious pressing, but it protects the teeth from grinding. The pressure generated by the chewing muscles is enormously high, it can reach up to 70 kg.
It is therefore understandable that the additional rubbing on the tooth surface over time leads to irreversible abrasion of the tooth surface. The occlusal splint does not destroy the occlusal surface, but the material of the splint. Another indication for the occlusal splint are changes due to abnormal bite conditions.
They can be caused, for example, by abrasion on the tooth surface caused by grinding, so that upper and lower teeth no longer fit together properly or if there is no normal tooth position at all, and there is no contact between the occlusal surfaces. This can also lead to pain in the temporomandibular joint, as the load on the joint is uneven. The pain can also manifest itself as headaches. The bite splint compensates for the irregularities and thus eliminates the discomfort.
