anyone uses a night guard for grinding? it feels like my jaw changed its alignment?

[midnightwriter]

I don't think I grind my teeth, but I'm pretty sure I clench. When I had a sore / irritated tooth with no other signs of issues, the dentist recommended a night guard, and I had it custom made.

I've been using it for about a week now. The tootache is gone. I actually love having the night guard at night, because I feel my jaw is more relaxed. But I noticed my teeth / jaw align differently, and I'm not sure if it is a good thing or not.

Yesterday we were out, and a part of my nail broke, so I tried to bite the unevent part off, and my front teeth just couldn't do it. It was really weird. It was like they were not meeting where I wanted them to meet.

Today as I was eating breakfast, I felt my back teeth sliding differently, like my upper back teeth were not meeting well with the my lower back teeth.

Is this typical? Does it mean I had improper alignment before, and it is getting better now, or the mouth guard is screwing up my normal alignment? Is it even possible?

I have a feeling my current dentist won't have a clue. How do I search for a dentist who will be able to figure this out?

[Metasequoia]

My holistic dentist recommended the NTI nightguard  for clenching (over the phone, w/o seeing him), so I googled and saw a lot of people saying it changed their bites.

Have you read the new edition of Cure Tooth Decay? There's a chapter on the bite & the author explains, with illustrations to help, how our back teeth are supposed to touch but there's supposed to be a very thin, (like hair-thin) space between the front teeth.

This dentist I'm going to see (tomorrow!), also does cranialsacral therapy, which I've been reading is the key to fixing bite issues because the doctor can help to get your bite where your body wants it to be. If there are cranial distortions, there will be an increase in problems.

I've also read (in Cure Tooth Decay) that with a slight overbite (your teeth are ALL supposed to line up, even the front ones), that if you allow the jaw to come forward, as it should, and you place some kind of vertical spaces on the molars which will prevent the front teeth from touching, the back teeth will actually grow UP because of new bone growth so the front teeth stop colliding into each other. this is my problem and my front teeth move slightly because of it - so I REALLY need to address my bite ASAP.

Can you see a cranialsacral therapist? Or, better yet, find a dentist/orthodontist who does CST? I highly recommend the new edition of Cure Tooth Decay..