Product appears to be excellent, packaging not so much
About 30 years ago, I cracked a tooth. The dentist told me it was from bruxism and said I needed to get a night guard. I got one of the standard wraparound type. A year or two later, I cracked another tooth. I had also chewed through a couple of night guards. This went on for several years with me cracking a tooth every 2-3 years, many resulting in root canals.<br /><br />Finally, I did some research and found the NTI, a small bite guard that fits over the front teeth. The theory was that the wrap-around night guards actually made the bruxism worse because they sit between the morals, which are the brushing and teeth grinding. When they feels pressure, they tend to clamp down. This made some sense to me since I was chewing through the wraparound night guards.<br /><br />The NTI had to be custom made by a dentist because, being small, they were a choking risk, so had to fit snugly over the teeth so they could not easily become loose and be aspirated. The going rate around here was about $500-$600 dollars. I decided to give it a try, because it was cheaper than crown and root canals.<br /><br />I got my NTI about 20 years ago and have not had a cracked tooth since. However. about 7-8 years ago, the softer interior material started to wear and crack. The NTI no longer fit tightly against my teeth. I wasn’t too worried about aspiration because I never sleep on my back. But over the past year or two, almost all of the interior material has fallen out. The NTI is now so loose that it sometimes digs into the inside of my lip.<br /><br />Before I spent about $600 for a new NTI, I did a little checking and discovered the Smart Guard. It looked like it might be the same job as the4 NTI and it cost a fraction of the cost. So I ordered one. It arrived today. I just completed the fitting procedure, so here’s my initial review. I’ll try to update it in a few weeks after I have used it for awhile.<br /><br />The fitting instructions were pretty easy and I was able to complete them without a problem. It seems to fit fairly tightly – not as tight as the NTI, but I don’t think it will slip off. And it’s quite a bit larger than the NTI so much harder to aspirate. I give it an A- or B+ for instructions and fitting.<br /><br />Here’s the bad news. This version, which is supposed to be “improved”, does not come with a case. This is a major problem, especially since I understand that previous version came with a case and two guards. This will cost it at least one full star. What am I supposed to do, just leave it out on the night stand? And what do I do when I travel, just toss it in the suitcase with the underwear?<br /><br />Worse, the instructions say to keep the night guard in its “storage case”. I guess they just used the same instructions as for the previous version which did have a case. Deduct half a star.<br /><br />The instructions are pretty good, but who keep paper instructions anymore? The folded instruction sheet is the wrong size for scanning and there is no downloadable PDF version on their website. Deduct another half star.<br /><br />This is really too bad. With a little better follow through, this could have been a 5-star product. They appear to have done the hard part right. Pity.
Rating: 3 stars