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Teeth grinding/clenching
jma820
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Hey folks recently I started grinding my teeth/clenching them while awake! I'm sure I don't do it when I'm asleep, but I'd like to try to nip this problem in the bud before my teeth sustain any damage. I was thinking about wearing a night guard while awake. But I'm hoping you fine people have better suggestions for me. Thanks in advance
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Hmm that's pretty interesting, I'll try to keep that in mind. I wonder if hypnotic suggestion could help me out as well
Do you have any anxiety issues? Did you recently quit smoking/any other drug? I noticed it more after I quit smoking/in between cigarettes, and when something angered me/stressed me out.
I pay attention to this, and like EggyToast said, I simply get myself to stop when it happens.
I am feeling pretty anxious lately and I made a decision to slow down the marajuana intake to just on weekends, which kinda makes the weekdays torture until I get used to this arrangement. I'm also upset at my roommate for being such a slob. So I've kinda got a lot going on that would probably be the cause of this. Thanks for bringing these things to light
I've been grinding during the night for a long time now, apparently, and it's finally gotten to a point where the dentist is telling me to really try and stop, as my molars are pretty flat. I wasn't sure I was even doing it until my girlfriend caught me grinding pretty hard one night while I was asleep.
I'd recommend night guards to alleviate the nighttime grinding, but you don't have to get a custom fitted expensive one from the dentist. Just go to the drug store and find one. I went for a Den Tek brand nightguard that you boiled, cooled, and bit down on to make a mold of your teeth. It takes a few nights to get used to, but I'm glad I did it, as I don't really want to grind down to the nerve.
I also grind/clench my teeth at night. If you're doing it during the day, I would assume you're doing it at night as well. Make sure your dentist keeps an eye on it, maybe get a night guard just in case. (I've just recently started wearing one, it's not that bad)
The mouth guard is a good idea - they sell small profile dental guards specifically for teeth gnashing - these work a hell of a lot better than those boxer style mouth guards.
Behavior therapy will help you to recognize and try to stop the things that lead up to teeth gnashing, but this is a HARD road - its a learned responce, UN-learning something is freakin hard!
The bottom line though - most of the time, stressors cause these behaviors to become more noticeable. You need a break - before you break - understand?
It's funny, I had a phase in early February where I was clenching my jaw in my sleep and subconsciously touching my teeth together throughout the day. For about a week, I would get these random events of feeling totally dizzy, horribly fatigued, and my head would feel heavy and dull, with my teeth feeling sore. Just disgusting. I couldn't concentrate on anything. I attributed it to a weird side effect from taking Dexedrine for ADHD; however I had been taking it for months and had never experienced anything like that. Nervous tics are common in people just starting to take amphetamines, and I noticed that I was biting my lip compulsively in the first week or so but that was back in October.
Anyway at the clinic on campus one of the practitoners asked me if I smoked pot and when I mentioned that I did, very rarely (the period where I had my own weed resulted in me toking up at most once a week, and a small amount at that), she put on a very stern face and told me that I should probably cut it out.
In any case, I took a break off dexedrine while they did some bloodwork tests for a few weeks and eventually went back on it when the results came back, which were fine (doctor's actual words: "you have more vitamin B12 than I have ever seen in anyone at this university"). Haven't had it since. Never found out what the problem was.
― Dr. Seuss, Oh, the Places You'll Go!
When you are awake, try to remember to place your tongue on the roof of your mouth, just at the "top" edge of your teeth where they meet the gums. This action usually keeps your rear teeth and jaw from clenching and will keep your front teeth from contacting.
I find that I need to try to remember to do this all the time, as I lock my jaw (not always with teeth contact) all the time without noticing and will sometimes close hard on my teeth (more front teeth contact due to the jaw placement I have (near-severe overbite)) and even notice discomfort.
If that doesn't work, try to actively place your tongue between your front teeth, but not all the way protruded... I mean, you'll likely actually end up sticking your tongue out through your teeth, but you can do that without sticking your tongue through your lips as well and the simple act of slightly biting down on your tongue will make you aware of what's happening and keep you "holding back" the bite so you don't impact tooth on tooth.
If it ends up that you're having troubles remembering to do this (you can train yourself to do either action--roof of mouth or between teeth--with enough effort), you may want to speak with an orthodontist or another specialist (ask your general dentist for a recommendation) to move teeth or correct your jaw placement so it's less of a problem, especially while awake.
But, if you're certain you don't do it in your sleep (like I think I am), you may want to work on training yourself to use your tongue to your advantage and avoid costly guards and treatments... the tongue methods work perfectly fine (you don't look like a dork even!) so long as you remember to do it! (Hence the training...)
[Edit]
Just to clarify, I don't mean I place my tongue at the roof of my mouth when I notice I'm grinding or clenching... I try to remember to do it all the time. I do notice that sometimes when I'm doing something that is physically stressful... like squatting and lifting two boxes full of documents, I'll actively place my tongue between my teeth slightly... but generally, I just try to keep my tongue at the roof of my mouth when I'm sitting there typing emails, entering data, and writing letters (etc.). It's kind of an all-the-time behaviour that you learn rather than a in-response-to-stimuli that you learn, although that is good as well (like, I will try to place my tongue between my teeth a bit when I'm going to do something physical, just incase...)
I think I'm even doing it in my sleep as I've had several morning where I go to bed fine and wake up with the pain and wierd tongue feeling.
Usually eating a meal or chewing gum alleviates the problem, but since I can't do either of those in my sleep would some sort of mouth guard help?
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