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Dentistry’s attempt at dealing with parafunctional jaw muscle activity (the most destructive of which is jaw clenching) has been to provide alterations of the biting surfaces of the teeth.
1) A full coverage splint, usually a thickness which mimics the intended space between the teeth when the jaw musculature is supposed to be at rest, provides both canine and posterior teeth contact, thereby allowing for perpetuation of parafunctional (nighttime clenching) muscular activity.
2) By increasing the thickness of the splint, clenching intensity may be altered, depending on the amount of pressure applied to particular teeth. If contacts are “heavier” in the molar region, clenching intensity can be suppressed slightly. If contacting is prevalent in the canine region, clenching is reflexive and perpetuates.
3) An anterior bite plane reduces parafunctional intensity of the masseters (the muscles on the sides of your jaw, primarily involved in chewing, not clenching), and to a degree, the lateral pterygoids (the tiny muscles at your jaw joints that open your jaw), but still provides canine contact for temporalis clenching.
The NTI-tss device (above) reduces clenching intensity by exploiting the mechanisms of the incisor teeth and by preventing the engagement of the canine and molar teeth when the jaw is centered (A), and when it is in excursive positions (B).
