My husband stabilizes these with rope, but attractive it is not, and I don’t let him use chairs so “repaired” outside of his man cave.
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Is it worth it to get a night guard directly from the dentist as opposed to the DIY impression kind on Amazon?
This was - unsurprisingly - recommended to me due to concerns of teeth grinding/clenching.
General prices quoted to me were roughly $460 to do it through my dentist vs. the $130 Amazon kind they thought were ok.
I’m inclined to pay the extra $300+ to make sure the fit is right, but it is a big difference for what might be basically the same product?
Anyone have experience with this or more knowledge about it?
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I think when this has been talked about here and there around the forums the majority of people had the same outcome with both spendy and cheap mouth guards.
I prefer the custom fit, though, because they will do the mold with my jaw relaxed so that I’m not biting down even harder against the guard in my sleep.
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I would go spendy. Anecdotally, my spendy nightguard is over 15 years old and still going strong. My dental hygienist cleans it for me twice a year when I go for check-ups. It is so comfortable to sleep in and I want to keep my teeth…
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Such a timely question! After my 10 year old soft mouth guard has deteriorated (actually should have replaced a few years ago), I just got my jsdental custom mouth guard which is a I think a cross between the two. I am sending the JSdental one back and they’re going to re-make it because I think I angled a bit while doing the impression. Basically, they sent me an impression kit, and I made the impression at home, sent it back, they sent me a guard and it isn’t quite right, so they’re going to do a free exchange and I’ll mark the places that are an issue and they’ll adjust or have me do a new impression until we get it right. So far customer service seems really responsive and helpful. I mainly wanted to avoid a trip to the dentist during COVID but will end up being about $110 vs $480 quoted by my dentist.
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I have a $30 amazon guard and I don’t use it that much, especially lately but there’s an adjustment period of a few weeks to stop waking up in the middle of the night from jaw pain. I also only grind my front teeth (wtf?) so while it holds my front teeth apart from each other my muscles don’t agree with that thus increasing the pain at the back of my mouth. It doesn’t necessarily affect my neck and jaw muscles more than going without the guard and just grinding, but it also isn’t helping anything besides my actual enamel.
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I am a big believer in my mouth guard from my dentist.
I got a $30 drugstore one and it was soft enough that it didn’t actually stop me from grinding my teeth, but instead gave me something with give to grind against and my teeth actually shifted a bit from it.
There probably is a middle ground with a mail order option, but I don’t regret at all getting the pricier one from my dentist.
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I paid $300 for one from the dentist because the dentist told me that the one I got at the drugstore probably wasn’t as comfortable as the $300 one would be. Well, they readjusted, they ground down, they readjusted some more, they sent it back twice, and I was never even able to put the thing in without crying from the pain. No chance of biting down, just inserting caused excruciating pain no matter what they did. Meanwhile, I’m doing just fine with the cheapie two for 20 bucks from the drugstore once.
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I still need a 2021 calendar.
Does anyone have any friends/acquaintances who make calendars with pictures of birds, flowers, gardens, naturey things generally? I’m trying to support more small businesses, and I don’t personally know anyone who does anything like this.
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Is there a way to set up a checklist in google calendar, that I can mark things done and happens on the first of every month?
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If I want to send a plain old envelope from the U.S. to the U.K. (no special tracking or anything, just super basic) is that called First Class or something else? Basically how many forever stamps do I need to put on it before I stick it in the mailbox?
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You can get an international stamp for about $1. I am not sure how that would handle Forever stamps (since the value changes over time with changing domestic rates). You can also go online to calculate postage at USPS.
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Forever stamps currently cost 55c, whereas standard First Class global postage (i.e. a global Forever stamp) is $1.20. So, you can use two Forever stamps + one 10c stamp, or you can plop on three Forever stamps and just overpay by 45c.
I just buy global Forever stamps myself – I’ve had one sheet for like five years, lol. It works. 
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You have international forever stamps? My international stamps are always out of date. (They are probably us stamps at this point)
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Yep, we do! It’s really handy, because if you only use international stamps at most a few times a year, you don’t have to keep buying new postage to keep up with rate changes.
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Yep - Tasks in Google calendar. If you’re looking from a computer, it looks like this:
It lets you set dates and repeating cycles (apparently that’s new, as it just told me about it when I clicked on it).
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I know there are some people with lots of thoughts on planners/journals here. I’ve never been much of a journaler but I’m realizing I think I need to start doing it since I have a lot going on in my anxious brain. I’ve started sleeping really well on days I have counseling or spend 2-3 hours discussing my feelings in depth with my partner but that’s not at all sustainable and I’m thinking journaling might be another way to do that.
Looking for recommendations for ways to get started with journals and/or supplies that feel amazing and will make me want to journal but aren’t so pretty I’ll be afraid of using them (yes, I was a kid with tons of stickers never used because what if I mess it up?).
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Get a pen or fine felt tip marker that you really like, and that is easy to buy again once you wear it out. I like LePens for when I’m feeling really fancy – they’re a colorful felt tip marker that just feels SO good on the page. Some people like fountain pens, or gel pens, or rollerballs, or whatever.
Get a journal with good paper that feels nice in your hands but that isn’t highly decorative in a special way – a dark blue Moleskine, for example, is a good candidate. It feels and looks beautiful, but it’s really easy to get another Moleskine if you want one, it’s not ~special. ETA: Or get a nice-looking binder you can take paper in and out of – that way if you “screw up” you can get rid of whatever you screwed up. 
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This is JUST the kind of content I was looking for.
Do people use prompts? “Dear Diary” feels a little weird to me so not sure how to get started (will be discussing with a therapist too, but maybe this is just a preference thing?
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I can only journal anymore with prompts! (Except my one line a day, but that’s just like, “I did XYZ”). For the baby I actually have a Promptly journal I’ve really enjoyed working though. I find it much easier to write with prompts. I know you can find lists online, too.
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