I went to another dentist and his opinion was that I should be using a night
guard.  He was okay with my trying an OTC night guard first to see if I'm
comfortable with it.   I tried a "boil and bite" style OTC night guard and
it works, but I'm not thrilled with it since it's bulky and makes my lips
stick out slightly and my tendency isn't to close my mouth all the way with
it in.  (and I strongly think this is due to the bulk of the night guard.)

I can tolerate the OTC night guard, but I'm not thrilled with the comfort
level, and...don't laugh...but I'm paranoid that if I use it over a long
time it will make my face permanently stick out, could that happen?  If I
knew that would not happen, then MAYBE I could learn to live with the OTC
night guard if the only other option were to pay $450 for a custom night
guard.

Since my dentist charges $450 for a night guard, I'm considering ordering a
custom night guard from one of the places online that will do it for $80 or
less.  The send you trays and some type of putty where you mix a blue and
white half of the putty together and then put it into the try and take an
impression and then mail it to the lab and you get back a custom night
guard.

For the above, my only concern is the putty...I'm asking the people who are
selling these about the putty...but does anyone know if the putty is as safe
and nontoxic as what the dentist would use?....the mixing process reminds me
of *epoxy* and I would not necessarily want to be putting that into my
mouth!  Does anyone know if the putty used for the mail order custom night
guards is safe?

Could I temporarily use *empty* custom bleaching trays as a night guard
until the mail order night guard arrives in the mail?

Thanks,

J.