Mouth guards for mouth breathers

September 15, 2022 9:42 AM

Should it be possible to breath through one's mouth while wearing an OTC thermoplastic mouth guard? Or do you have to keep your mouth closed to hold it in place?

Teen Proust was told to wear a mouth guard for possible tooth grinding. We bought this OTC model and followed the instructions to fit it to their mouth.

Unfortunately, they were unable to use it. It only stayed in place if they kept their mouth closed, but they breath through their mouth when they sleep. So it was a non-starter.

I have a few of questions about this:

1. Are you supposed to be able to breath through your mouth while wearing this type of mouth guard?

2. Should we try to redo the fitting process with this mouth guard by reheating it, or do we need to buy a new one if we want to try to get a better fit?

3. If we get a custom mouth guard from the dentist, will it stay in place while the mouth is open, allowing the user to breath through their mouth while they sleep?

The custom mouth guard via the dentist will cost several hundred dollars out of pocket, so we don't want to go that route if it's going to be a complete non-starter once it arrives.

Thanks.

posted by Winnie the Proust to Health & Fitness (13 answers total)

Both Teen True and myself wear OTC mouthguards for martial arts. They have been a giant pain to get right, and it's been a lot of trial and error to get them molded to a point where they stay in at all times. But yes, it can be done.

We have had the best luck with sisu guards, they might work for your use as well. Unlike most of the thermoplastic ones they come flat and you mold around the teeth, but once you get them right they are 100% on there and require active work to remove. I have remolded them several times, so you don't have to get them perfect immediately. As a bonus they are extremely thin, allowing talking and drinking with no issues.
posted by true at 9:53 AM on September 15, 2022 [2 favorites]

I have the slightly (like, a few bucks) more expensive Ultimate guard from the same brand which only covers the back teeth. I am definitely able to open my mouth without it falling out - in fact, checking that you can do so is the last step of the fitting process, IIRC. It is also explicitly remoldable at least once if you don't get the fit right the first time. I looked at the user guide for your model and didn't find either of those points there, so it might be worth picking one of these up to try.
posted by btfreek at 10:01 AM on September 15, 2022 [1 favorite]

I recently had to replace my dentist made guard and had the exact same experience as you with the OTC guard. It was worth it, because my grinding is terrible, but I did have to clench to keep it in place. This has been the case in the past when I use a OTC mouth guard for sleeping. Honestly, I find it weird that they fit so badly, my memory of sports mouth guards was much better, so true's experience with sisu matches my experience.

I have had 3 hard dentist made mouth guards over 20 years. They certainly have a better return on investment than my prescription glasses! They really do last, I only replaced them after lost them.
posted by Gor-ella at 10:03 AM on September 15, 2022 [1 favorite]

Ask your dentist about an NTI guard. They are expensive, they have to be custom made, but it is a totally different kind of night guard and has been absolutely effective for me. The NTI will not care what hole your kid breathes from.
posted by phunniemee at 10:41 AM on September 15, 2022

seconding sisu mouth guards. I have literally forgotten to take mine out after practice bc it's molded so perfectly now.

I don't notice it; my speech, breathing, and drinking aren't disrupted, and I usually notice I forgot to remove it when I miss my reading glasses (gear up: put reading glasses in gear bag; take out mouth guard. Gear off: reverse).
posted by toodleydoodley at 10:46 AM on September 15, 2022

I have a dentist made rigid nightguard that was molded to my teeth. I forget who manufactured it but I want to say it was a company in Santa Monica, CA. The guard definitely stays in place. It is like it stuck my teeth like a vacuum. I have to use my tongue to unpry it in the morning.
posted by mmascolino at 10:48 AM on September 15, 2022

I have a soft, dentist-made guard, that maybe cost me $200-$300. I have had it for 5+ years and though I've been told it'll eventually break, it hasn't yet. It fits snugly to my teeth and so yes, I can mouth-breathe with it alllll night long.
posted by BlahLaLa at 10:54 AM on September 15, 2022

I have a hard dentist-made nightguard. It was very expensive ~$1500 I think, including the office visits, but your insurance might cover it. It fits so tightly that I can't take it out with my tongue - I have to use a hand to pop it free. It would absolutely stay in place through mouth breathing.
posted by mercredi at 11:12 AM on September 15, 2022

I'm not sue if this is helpful but I have a different sort of OTC mouth guard which only covers the back teeth (but it's different from the one btfreek suggests) which is this one and I was definitely able to have my mouth open and it would stay in. I have since gotten one of those like mmascolino describes and it stays in my mouth, suctioned to my teeth, like 99% of the time. One time I found it under my pillow, don't know what the story is there. Can definitely have my mouth open while wearing it.
posted by jessamyn at 1:06 PM on September 15, 2022

I have the same one that btfreek linked to, and I can confirm that it stays stuck on my teeth throughout the night even while breathing through my mouth.

For the one you've got, it already doesn't work, so you lose nothing by trying to reheat and reform it. Have your kid bite really hard, I think that's the trick. If you don't get deep enough in there, it won't stay on.
posted by number9dream at 1:44 PM on September 15, 2022

The sisu guards referenced by true are for sports use. The same company make a slightly different guard for specifically for nighttime use called the sova. It comes in two format: one is flat and the other is already in a U-shape. Both can be re-molded up to 20 times.
posted by metahawk at 4:16 PM on September 15, 2022

Like @mercredi, I have a hard dentist-made nightguard (but it was less than $500 before insurance) and it definitely doesn't fall out and is sometimes even a bit hard to remove with my hands.
posted by kbuxton at 11:18 PM on September 15, 2022

I just checked, mine is made by Glidewell Dental in Newport Beach, CA.
posted by mmascolino at 1:26 PM on September 16, 2022 [1 favorite]