I recently went to my dentist and just happen to mention how the bottom of my jaw bothers me. I told the dentist how I would wake up at night and find myself biting down on my tongue. That is why I would wake up. Oh, the pain! Then my dentist told me that my teeth show signs of “Teeth Grinding”. I had signs of BRUXISM, a type of sleep disorder. Oh, boy!
After the diagnosis my dentist recommended a mouth guard. The guard would help prevent me from teeth grinding and tongue biting. A mouth guard! This was something I was not keen on getting, especially after I found out that my dental plan did not cover the full cost of the guard. But like a good dental patient I went ahead with the purchase.
The mold of my bottom jaw scared me when I saw it.
I thought, Ugh, this looks like a monster’s mouth. My next thought was, why didn’t my parents give me braces, maybe my teeth would look a little less monster-ish. Then I smiled and thought, wait till the grand kids see this they are going to love grandma’s monster mouth. 
The ugly mold helped to shape my plastic mouth guard. After getting the mouth guard and forking over $200.00 for a piece of plastic I began to second guess my dentist.
I just thought this is not going to work. I am going to hate it in my mouth. It is going to bother me, like really bother me. How am I going to even sleep. It is going to keep me up. What a waste of money. All these thoughts while I was leaving the dental office. But it was to late, the mouth guard was in my bag.
Well, it’s been 6 days since I purchased the mouth guard. Guess what? Getting this mouth guard was the best thing I could have done for myself. On the very first night the guard in my mouth did the trick. I couldn’t believe it, it was one of the best night’s sleep I had in a very long time. I did not do my usual tossing and turning and no tongue biting. Second night’s sleep was the same. It was amazing! The mouth guard was a winner. Of course, I was a little disturbed when I found out i could have bought a mouth guard from Amazon for less money. But then I realized the mouth guard would not have been MY MOUTH guard. I am happy that my mouth guard is part of my night time ritual.
So glad I listened to my dentist. Now I need to take my physician’s advise. See she wants me to get tested for sleep apnea…that’s another story.