5 Ways To Remember To Wear Your Dental Night Guard At Night

Dental night guards are a great way to protect your teeth from grinding and clenching at night. However, like most people, you may forget to wear it from time to time. Dental night guards are worn at night to protect your teeth from grinding. Remembering to wear these devices consistently, is the key to protecting your teeth long term. Also, the more you wear your night guard, the more comfortable it will feel and the more likely a habit of wearing it will form.

Here are some helpful tips on how to remember to wear your night guard every night.

1. Keep Your Dental Night Guard in Sight

The first way to remember to wear your dental night guard is to keep it in sight. You can place it on the counter or in another part of the room where you’ll see it easily when you go to sleep at night. This will remind you that it’s time for bed and help ensure you don’t forget about wearing your dental night guard after brushing your teeth and getting ready for bed.

Pro tip: Keep your night guard safe and out of reach from your dog. Dogs are attracted to the night guards and will mistake them for a fun chew toy!

2. Set the Alarm on Your Phone

Another way to remember to wear your dental night guard is by setting the alarm on your phone or using an app like Remember The Milk or Alarmy that will send reminders directly to your phone whenever you need them — such as when it’s time for bed or when it’s time for a dose of medication! This can be especially beneficial if you have a busy schedule during the day and may not always remember when it’s time for bed or other important events throughout the day.

3. Place It Right Next to Your Bed

One of the most common reasons people do not wear their night guard is that they forget to put it on.

Remembering to wear your night guard is to make it a habit.

It would help if you created a routine to put your dental night guard on every night before bed. You can start by placing it right next to your bed so that you see it every time you go into your bedroom at night. This way, it will be easier to remember. When you wake up in the morning, most of us go straight to the bathroom. Clean your night guard while you’re in the bathroom and place it right back in its retainer case on your nightstand by your bed.

4. Put A Post-It Note On Your Mirror

If you have trouble remembering many things, write yourself a note on a post-it or stick it on the mirror in your bathroom where you can see it as soon as you get out of bed each morning. This will remind you that you must wear your night guard before going back to sleep.

5. Ask Someone To Remind You To Wear It

If all else fails, ask someone else in your household to remind you when they see that your dental guard is still sitting next to your toothbrush in the morning. Having someone else involved means that more than one person will be checking up on whether or not you’re wearing it each night, so there’s no way around being reminded.

Make Your Dental Night Guard Part of Your Routine

If you have a daily routine in place, it will be easier to remember to wear your dental night guard every night. For example, you could try brushing your teeth after dinner each night while wearing your dental night guard. This way, it becomes part of the routine and less likely to slip your mind when bedtime is time.

For example, as soon as you finish brushing your teeth and flossing, put on your dental night guard. If you wait too long after brushing, food particles may get stuck between the mouthpiece and your teeth. This can make it more challenging to get the appliance into position when you go to bed and may also irritate your gums if they rub against the plastic surface of the device all night long.

An Extra Tip!

Write Down The Benefits of Wearing Your Night Guard In Your Journal

Sometimes it’s much more effective to remember why you’re wearing a night guard.

If you understand the why, you’re more likely to want to prevent damaging your teeth.

If you’re having trouble remembering something important like taking medication or wearing your dental night guard every day, try writing it down on your calendar as soon as possible after realizing it (or, better yet, before realizing it). Then, when you look at your calendar for the day ahead, make sure you wear it.

Remember! Schedule It Into Your Routine

The best way to ensure you wear your dental night guard is by scheduling it into your routine. Set the alarm on your phone or calendar and schedule time for yourself before bed each night. If you have trouble remembering things like this, try setting multiple alarms so that they remind you throughout the day. You can set one alarm for when you need to start getting ready for bed and another when it’s time to put on your dental night guard.

Keep Your Dental Night Guard in a Place Where You Won’t Forget It

Make sure that you keep your dental night guard in a place where it is easy for you to see and grab quickly in the morning and at night before bedtime. You might want to keep it next to your toothbrush so that when you brush your teeth before bedtime, it will also remind you to put on your dental night guard! If this isn’t possible for whatever reason.

Wrapping Up

Remembering to wear your night guard can be challenging, mainly because you must remember to put it in place before you go to sleep. If you don’t do this, it’s useless to protect your teeth. Research shows a habit develops after about 21 days.

The above are some tips you can use to help make sure that you take the time and effort to do this each night throughout the week. Eventually, you won’t even have to think about it anymore! It’ll be a habit!