Many anti-nail biting products exist some of which you may have already tried. Bitter nail polish and nail biting gloves are the go-to products that long term nail biters often try to quit the habit. The downside of these products is that they need to be actually worn by the patient meaning if you choose to stop using them, the benefit disappears.
A nail biting appliance is a non-removable metal bracket that is installed on the back of the front teeth to inhibit your ability to bite your nails. It acts as a barrier of sorts to make it impossible to clamp down on fingernails while also offering a protection to the teeth themselves. In addition to physically preventing the nail chewing action, the device also creates a behavior modification of sorts as you repeatedly fail at biting your nails due to the existence of the appliance. Unlike bitter nail polish or gloves, willpower is not required as the appliance is always in place.
Anti Nail Biting Appliance Research
A research study tested the use of a permanently bonded metal and plastic appliance on the back a long term nail biter’s front lower teeth in order to physically prevent nail biting. The anti nail biting appliance works as follows:
Mechanically, it renders the chisel-shaped teeth that meet in an edge-to-edge bite to become inoperative. As was illustrated in the clinical case, this appliance disabled efficiently the front teeth from making any damage to the nails and the surrounding cuticles.
NCBI
The research case study showed that it helped a long time nail biter quit the habit within about one month as it almost immediately forced the patient to cease the nail biting habit. By the end of the 9 month follow up period, the nail biting habit had been completely eliminated.
The habit breaking appliance effectively made it impossible for him to bite his nails, solving the problem by changing his behavior ie. he stopped biting nails as the appliance made it physically impossible to do so. While more research is necessary with a greater sample size, the initial findings seem positive.
The patient commented that he could feel the appliance in his mouth so it served as a constant reminder that he was wearing it. As the appliance physically prevents nail biting to occur, the patient is effectively punished each time they try to bite their nails as they can’t do it. And they are additionally reminded every time they try to bite their nails meaning even a subconscious nail biter learns of their nail biting behavior constantly.
Habit Breaking Appliance For Nail Biting
Habit breaking appliances are a relatively new method of quitting mouth-related habits such as nail biting, thumb sucking, lip biting, mouth breathing and more. Each habit may require a differently design depending on what you are trying to accomplish.
A habit breaking appliance for nail biting may be a removable or permanently fastened metal and plastic device that is attached to the back of your teeth. Its job is to prohibit the ability to bite your fingernails and may also protect your teeth in the process. So typically it would be designed and installed by your dentist and is custom made for your mouth, teeth and your nail biting habits:
- Do you bite nails with your front teeth?
- On one side or both sides of your mouth?
- Which teeth are mostly affected by your nail biting habit specifically?
In that regard, a permanently affixed nail biting appliance may be especially helpful with subconscious nail biting since it is always in place and doesn’t have to be applied repeatedly like bitter nail polish or gloves to work. With both of these products you can choose to stop using them. With a permanently affixed anti nail biting appliance, it’s always there and you can’t simply remove it or choose not to use it.
A nail biting habit breaking appliance works in several ways to not only stop you from physically biting your nails but also to remind you about your activity each time it is attempted. This is a huge benefit for subconscious nail biters who are unable to keep track of every time they do it. As they say, knowing it is half the battle.
Onychophagia
Onychophagia is the medical name for nail biting. It tends to be chronic and is often a subconscious activity. We often bite and pick our nails without even really knowing that we’re doing or considering it.
For me, at the end of a particular day I’d look at my fingernails and could clearly see they were shorter than at the start of the day but I couldn’t actually remember biting or picking them at any particular point.
A permanently affixed habit breaking appliance such as the above-mentioned teeth guard takes into consideration that onychophagia is often a subconscious activity. If you are unaware that you are doing nail biting, it’s difficult to quit. If you are physically unable to bite your nails due to a teeth guard of this kind, the fact that you aren’t aware of each time you bite your nails becomes obvious when you attempt to bite your nails and fail.
Further Research
Further research on the topic of habit breaking appliances of this kind specifically related to nail biting is required. While a habit breaking appliance used for those who bite their nails and bite their lip, bite their mouth or mouth breath may benefit from a device of this kind, research on the ability to help those who pick their nails only would be helpful.
For a predominantly nail picker like myself, the appliance would have only solved my biting problem (about 25% of my problem) since I’d say the other 75% of the time I was picking my nails with my other hand. A mouth-specific device like this may have solved my nail biting but would not have solved my bigger issue of nail picking. For someone like myself who alternated between biting and picking, it’s possible I’d have simply concentrated 100% of my efforts on picking my nails once the biting was physically prevented by the appliance.
Nail Biting Side Effects
In addition to the damage – possibly long term – to your fingernails, nail bed and cuticles, onychophagia is known to be responsible for a number of other side effects to your mouth including:
- Movement and shifting of teeth which could necessitate expensive orthodontic braces to correct it.
- Permanent damage to the root of the teeth, a condition known as root resorption.
- Headaches, jaw pain and jaw misalignment.
- Extended orthodontic treatment (braces) if you have them as nail biting can delay the success of the treatment.
- Bacteria and possible infections entering the mouth affecting the teeth and gums and eventually, the stomach especially if you swallow bits of bitten nails.
One of the major concerns with long term nail biting is that side effects are often not seen right away. Nail biters get a false of security as long term side effects may not be noticeable until many years later at which point severe damage becomes noticeable.
Summary
The initial findings appear to show a positive impact on quitting nail biting when using a permanently affixed habit breaking appliance in the mouth. While more research is needed, the first round of research quoted above seems to suggest that nail biting was immediately curtailed after the device was affixed and that by the end of the 9 month follow period, nail biting had been completely eliminated.
Does a nail biting habit breaking appliance work for nail pickers? While nail biters could certainly benefit from such a device, it’s unlikely that nail pickers would benefit since they’d still be free to use their hands to pick nails with nothing preventing them from doing so.
Recent Posts
Stimming, short for self-stimulatory behavior, refers to repetitive or rhythmic movements or sounds that some individuals with autism or other neurodevelopmental conditions engage in. It is often...
Nail biting and nail picking is a common habit that affects many people, especially during times of stress or boredom. While it may seem like a harmless habit, it can actually have negative...