What’s up fam? Doctor Rick in the lab. I just wanted to talk to you guys about something that I’m so proud of because it has been such a long time coming. Everyone told me I couldn’t do it.

This is my fourth generation, 3D printed, end-to-end digital splint.

What does that mean and how is it different?

Well, we didn’t use to print splints.

We used to only make them with an analogue process, where I’d make a model of the patient’s teeth and use a type of acrylic laid over the teeth and I’d keep building it up until it was thick enough and then I’d get the top jaw and I’d kind of stamp it into the acrylic while it’s still a bit soft and I’d create a mold of the top teeth.

Let me tell you a little bit about how I make my splints now. If you have a look at this, you’ll notice that at the top of it it’s already indented. Now this is an addition to the fourth generation tailored splints that we are making now and basically I can digitally program six months of wear into your splint and then what that means is that instead of your jaw joint taking the force because your teeth aren’t moving freely against each other, everything moves really easily and really smoothly and my patients feel that it’s a lot more comfortable.

Also they’re a lot thinner than they used to be. I make them almost exclusively for the bottom jaw because all of my patients tell me that’s a lot more comfortable.

In splint therapy, we monitor you so you’ll be in relatively regularly just to make sure that everything’s happening the way that it should. Your jaw joint is starting to release a little bit. The muscles of mastication or the muscles that tend to get really stressed out when you’re clenching and grinding a lot, are starting to relax, the pain, if you’ve got pain in your teeth, that’s starting to settle. If there are any cracked teeth that you’ve got, they’re getting a little bit better, but I just wanted to take a second to let you guys know that splint therapy has never been more accurate or easier to adapt to then right now. If you’re clenching and grinding your teeth, save them. Cracked Tooth Syndrome is one of the most inconvenient things, not to mention painful that you’re going to ever have to deal with, hopefully never have to deal with, but the solution is relatively simple. Come and have a chat to us.

Get those beautiful teeth protected.