Comfort H/S™ Bite Splint

Providing bruxing splints can be one of the most rewarding treatments in dentistry today. You'll get your patients out of pain quickly and reduce further tooth destruction. This sparkling clear splint, available in hard or hard with a soft inner surface for extra comfort, is designed to be the first step in the treatment of bruxism.

Place two cotton rolls behind the cuspids and guide the patient into centric relation.

You could also place softened wax over the anterior molars and have the patient close to the desired 3 mm opening.

With patient in open centric relation, inject bite registration into the posterior openings of both quadrants.

Then inject bite registration material into the anterior opening to capture a complete open construction bite at centric relation.

Using a properly fitting impression tray (custom trays are your best bet), take upper and lower alginate impressions using the manufacturer's guide for proper powder-to-water ratio.

Upper and lower stone models mounted with open construction bite. Note the opening between the anterior teeth.

The upper or lower model is placed in a German-crafted ERKODENT thermoforming machine the fabricate the splint and create the flat bite table.

After thermoforming, the splint is trimmed and polished with carbide burs, felt wheels and acrylic polish.

Seat the splint and evaluate fit, retention and occlusion. Adjust with carbide bur or Lisko-S disc if needed; polish if necessary.

After completely seating splint, check bite using marking tape to identify any premature occlusion.

Instruct the patient to care for their splint by rinsing with water after every use and storing dry.

As a clinician, it is vital to identify the early signs of bruxing and clenching. In this image, vertical fracture caused by clenching is obvious. Abfraction lesions are due to grinding. This patient presents with advanced wear on the biting surfaces of the teeth after years of clenching and grinding. Bite splints, when bruxing is diagnosed early on, are an important aid in the treatment of bruxism.