HELP! My dog got my nightguard!

You’ve had a long hard day at work. The projects on your desk have piled up and your boss moved the deadline up by two days. On your way home from work, you already notice that familiar tension in your jaw, signifying that your nighttime clenching has started to seep into your day. All you can think of is getting home, kicking of your shoes, and shutting your brain down for a few hours of peace and quiet before you can climb into bed and let your brain dump the day. 

Unfortunately, your arrival at home only further increases your stressful state. You open your front door to find your normal peaceful abode is filled with chaos and noise. Your partner looks about two seconds from a full blown meltdown, dishes are piled in the sink, and the children are running through the house as if trying to recreate a scene from Lord of the Flies. All the stress of the day has really been weighing on you and you know that what you need most in the world is a good night’s sleep. 

You manage to find the last reserve of your sanity to help sort the chaos of the house, holding on to the knowledge that once you hit the bed, you’ll peacefully drift off into an alternate reality where stress isn’t present. After the kids are tucked in and the house is quiet, you slowly make your way to your bedroom to finally bed down for the night. As your ambling about the dark bedroom, your big toe kicks something that feels like disformed plastic. Racking your brain to determine what could possibly be littering the floor, you turn on the lamp on the bedside table only to come to the horrific realization that your night guard is chewed to pieces by the foot of your bed. There goes your good night’s sleep. 

They are friendly, furry, and lots of fun, but sometimes those lovable fur babies can cause all kinds of unexpected daily disruptions. A dog can be a man’s best friend, but for that man’s nightguard, well that’s a bit of a different story.  

At least three times a week, we receive emails from our customers with the dreaded subject line: “Help! My dog got my guard!”  ‘

It happens all the time and it’s actually a lot more common than most people realize. We’ve candidly joked that we’ve seen it happen so frequently that our owner has considered making chew toys! 

All jokes aside, having your dog get ahold of your night guard can be a most devastating realization. Particularly when that night guard is all that allows you the peaceful night’s rest that you need to get through your chaotic day.  

Why does my dog like my night guard so much?!?

A lot of our customers are curious as to why a dog will get a nightguard or even worse, do so repeatedly.  In fact, we’ve had a few cases where customers have had to replace their guards three or four times because their playful pal has found a new favorite chew toy. 

Some scientists suggest that a dog’s sense of smell is so incredibly strong that they can pick up on scents and odors that our human senses couldn’t detect even on the best days. Some reports cite their smell as being 100,000 times more sensitive than that of a human’s. 

It’s the reason that our canine companions are selected for training in criminal justice departments across the globe. The canine sensory system is so sensitive, that when properly trained, a dog can pick up the slightest trace of a scent long after any human can detect any odor. 

When it comes to your night guard, the intoxicating aroma of your personal scent and the various other food and drinks smells that might be lingering is enough to make even the most well-behaved pooch find themselves tempted to snag that chewy clear appliance for their immediate distraction. 

How JS Dental is here to help

At JS Dental Lab, we know that unexpected expenses, especially those caused by scenarios involving those lovable fur babies, can really create additional stress and worry, further exacerbating your already troublesome clenching and grinding.

While we haven’t figured out the formula to keep your dog away from grabbing your guard just yet, we do have a few tips and tricks to help you keep your dog away from your guard. 

1. Keep your night guard clean and fresh. This can help to reduce bacteria and odor that can be tempting for your dog. 
2. Use the guard case provided to keep your guard protected in a secure location. 
3. Try changing the location you store your guard. If you’re used to keeping it on your nightstand, consider the bathroom counter or maybe a bedside table drawer. 

Your night guard is covered under a 365-day guarantee, which is basically our way of saying we guarantee that you’ll be able to comfortably wear your guard for an entire year, without any unforeseen changes, or we’ll fix it! Unfortunately, our guarantee doesn’t quite cover the naughty activities of your new puppy. 

Our Insurance Plan

Seeing a pattern of issues with customers who have had their guard chewed up by their puppy more than once, we recently started offering our new insurance program.

The insurance fee is a once a year fee of $39. It is in addition to your 365 day guarantee and it  offers you a one-time replacement guard anytime within 12 months of your purchase for any reason. So should you lose your guard, run over it with your car, leave it on the hotel bathroom, or have a naughty puppy who confuses your much needed dental appliance for the latest and greatest in chewing joy, if you’ve purchased the insurance, you’ll just need to send us a quick email and let us know and we’ll get the instructions to you straight away! 

If the worst-case scenario occurs and you find yourself staring at the shredded remains of your guard, you can easily replace your guard through our repurchase program. 

The Repurchase Option

Our repurchase program offers you a 15% discount on repurchase orders over $100 and 25% off orders over $200. We also recently added a new program to help cover those unexpected occurrences.

https://www.nature.com/articles/036317b0

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0376635714000473

https://www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/abstracts/benefits-canine-squads