These Dentek guards are marketed for their slim profile, no boil required, ready-to-use out of the box, just rinse once in warm water. The guards have an adjustable size to fit small to large mouths, and they come two in a package, but only one case.

Initial thoughts: Dentek Comfort-Fit Dental Guard

I wanted to try this guard out because of the slim fit, and the fact that there’s in theory nothing showing at the front of your mouth while wearing it. I have to admit that at first I did not notice that this guard was not moldable in any way, and didn’t require boiling. This made me a little nervous, because I have woken up before to my (molded) night guard becoming dislodged from my teeth and me almost choking on it. That was not a pleasant way to wake up, so seeing that the only thing holding this in place was my teeth gripping it made me nervous.

Nevertheless, I took it on a trip to the mountains with me as a lightweight guard to stand in for my regular one, and committed to giving it a 2 night try out.

Night Guard Sizing:

So the first challenge you get, and really the only one, is sizing the guard. I figured I’d start on the biggest setting and work my way down, but very quickly realized that the smallest setting fit me pretty well, and I massively overestimated the size of my bite.

Comfort level:

Immediately when this sits in your mouth, it is pretty comfortable. As promised, it is slim line and barely noticeable in terms of bulk. It keeps your teeth apart with thin pads, and these are joined together by a small plastic loop that sits between your teeth and your lower lip. That loop is also small and slim line, so not immediately noticeable. Although I was worried about having to keep my jaw clenched to hold the guard in place, it was otherwise very comfortable.

Next morning, how did the night guard feel:

You know how sometimes with a new guard you notice that your bite feels a little strange the next morning. Like it’s slightly misaligned? Well I definitely felt that, but it was minor and was gone within a couple of hours. It’s not unusual for me to feel that with any new nightguard so it didn’t concern me really. That first night was very successful, I didn’t wake up choking on the guard, and I was comfortable through the night.

Second Consecutive Night:

Night two I was quite looking forward to trying it out again, but this was when the fit started to cause me some discomfort. The plastic loop was rubbing against my lower gum, and this made me subconsciously adjust the position of my jaw through the night. By morning it was obvious that I had irritated that lower gum with the guard, and it was not the best sleep ever.

Summary:

Pro’s:

• Ready-to-wear: I had it fitted within less than 60 seconds
• slimline comfort: it really was a slim fit, so my jaws were closer together than the classic, bulky mouth guards that you get over the counter.
• adjustable to any mouth size – there were 5 different sizes you could adjust it to.
• Because it’s not molded, there’s less nooks and crannies you need to clean on it, it’s easy to rinse off.

Con’s:

• Non-moldable: this means that you have to keep your teeth together through the night in order to keep this in place.
• Some discomfort after a 2nd night. This may have been an error on my part in picking the wrong size for my mouth, but I definitely felt the plastic loop that connected the two sides.

Ultimately, I will keep the two guards that I got in the package in my rotation, but they won’t be my go-to on a regular basis. I imagine they will be more for use on trips or when I want my guard to be the most covert possible. You can find them on Amazon here.