Dental note from Dr. Plumb: The dental field is so exciting because of constant improvements in techniques and upgrades in technology.  One recent development is the smart mouth guard.  It is a mouth guard with sensors imbedded in the material which will provide the wearer as well as his/her dentist with updates about clenching and grinding habits. Pretty sweet!

Irish Researchers Develop Bruxism Mouthguard With Smartphone-Enabled Sensors.

The Irish Times(4/13, McGuire) reports that Irish researchers “have invented an intelligent mouthguard” called SmartSplit “that will determine whether you grind your teeth at night and will send that information to your dentist and your smartphone.” The Irish Times adds that the mouthguard works by collecting data from “tiny sensors” in the mouthguard and sending that information to both the dentist, who “will interpret the results,” and to the patient so that they can “monitor their grinding.” Said researcher Dr. Padraig McAuliffe of the mouthguard, “We developed it because there was a real need for a teeth grinding test,” adding, “Bruxism can put up to 100kg of force onto the molars, which can do a huge amount of damage and cost thousands to repair.”