What is the Difference between an Occlusal splint and a Neuromuscular Orthotic? - Dr. Vicky Ho

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I often get asked what is the difference between a normal occlusal splint and a neuromuscular orthotic. Well, there's a world of difference really. Physically they look like two pieces of plastic that sit in the mouth. But functionally they work completely differently. The occlusal splint is normally taken with two impressions and it probably takes about 10 minutes of chair time to take the impressions. And what they do, they use the patient's original bite and we basically open the bite up by two millimeters and construct the occlusal splint in between with a two millimeter flat splint. So that the jaw literally is just held apart by this piece of plastic and the teeth will grind on the plastic. But they will not grind on each other and therefore, it produces some protection for the teeth. What we find with a normal occlusal splint is that people still probably grind and they grind through it. And so it offers good protection for the jaw that it's sitting on, but not so good for the opposite jaw. It can reduce the grinding a little bit. But more so it actually reduces the wear on the teeth. It doesn't really stop the person grinding and it does not remove any symptoms that may be associated with it. Now the neuromuscular orthotic is different because what the neuromuscular orthotic is made from is basically using a neurotransmitter to find out exactly what the natural contraction of the jaw muscles are. And as a result, we actually then use the neurotransmitter to take the bite for the new orthotic. And what this does it positions the jaw in exactly the place where the muscles want to be in their natural physiological state rather than where the teeth fit as such. So we take a recording according to what the muscles want to do. And we make an orthotic and the orthotic is not flat like like the general occlusal splint. It actually has teeth shapes and it completely positions the jaw in a different location. So that ultimately posture the jaw in where the body wants to be rather than where the teeth actually fit right now. And when people are in that position. They tend to have all the muscle pain and the tension in the neck and the head reduced. And also, it produces a very definite bite for the jaw to rest. And it generally will stop the grinding. So that's the difference between the two. One takes about 20 minutes, no, 10 minutes to construct the occlusal split and the other one is probably around between five hours of work minimum. So there's two different processes completely different product, but completely different results as well.

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