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chrisb89
42 Posts |
 Posted - 02/27/2007 : 15:30:56
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So I got back from the dentist today and they recommended I get a mouth guard since apparently I've been grinding my teeth really bad for a number of years and worn them down.
The dentist says teeth grinding at night is a sign of stress. Interesting since I didn't think I was stressed at all until I discovered TMS a few days ago.
Anyone else have this? |
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Stryder
686 Posts |
Posted - 02/27/2007 : 17:41:25
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Yup, I have 2 caps (crowns) because of it.
In general, your DDS / DMD is trying to cash you in for $400+ for a "hard night guard". I do not have one.
Other posters here on the forum suggest going to the local pharmacy and getting the OTC (over the counter) $25 version. I have not tried this yet.
In general, bruxating (grinding) and clenching can be a TMS equiv, very definately a distraction. This can lead to TMJ disorder (TMD) and worn teeth.
If you have it during the day, you can treat it like any other TMS equiv, and effectively stop it, once you recognize it as TMS and consciously stop doing it. I've been moderately successful in this approach.
If you have it during the night, there is not any easy way to know that you have it at night, since you are, uh, asleep (duh! ;-). I guess if you wake up in the morning and your jaw muscles are all sore / stiff that could be a signal that you are bruxating / clenching at night. Then maybe try the $25 guard.
Take care, -Stryder |
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wrldtrv
666 Posts |
Posted - 02/28/2007 : 23:46:27
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| I wouldn't try the $25 nightguard. Or even the cheaper version, the $2 football players mouthguard. These might protect your teeth from grinding, but will cause even more problems, so says my dentist. A custom nightguard is like an orthotic for your jaw; it places it in a neutral position so that when you clench you won't also wake up with a sore jaw. |
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tennis tom
USA
4749 Posts |
Posted - 03/01/2007 : 09:44:32
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In the interest of expediency and to prevent forum fatigue (mine not yours) I'm dredging up one of my oldies but goodies and a few other's from the archives that have some relavancy to this topic.
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By Laura:
Oh, my gosh, you guys. I got suckered into the same night guard about 16 years ago, and at that time it cost close to $300. I agree with you that it is about 5o cents worth of plastic but I used it religiously for a long time. One time, I hurled it across the room during a heated argument with my husband and it, of course, broke in half. They don't call it a "splint" for no reason (although the term now is "night guard.") It became like a crutch for me so off I went and had a new one made, cha-ching, cha-ching. Eventually, that one broke as well and I had yet a third one made. (You can see how hooked I became on it because my TMS made me believe I actually needed it.) I tried sleeping without it once or twice but always got a sore jaw.
Eventually, I saw a so called TMJ specialist in L.A. who wanted to do some drastic surgery on me where they insert a titanium piece where your temporomandibular joint is. I was experiencing ringing in ears and he claimed this surgery would solve "all" my problems. This quack told me that he would even do a "mini face lift" while he was in there, since the three hour surgery required cutting near the ear where he could pull the skin back (yikes!!) I left that office and never returned. I turned to yoga and massage and other relaxation techniques but I'm such a Sarno personality that I grind my teeth and hold so much tension in my body it didn't help.
One day, at my daughter's orthodontist appointment, I asked the dentist if he had adult patients because my bottom teeth are crooked (I fell off of the roof of a building when I was a child and injured my jaw and I believe the force of falling made my bottom teeth shift sideways and slope up on one side.) I told the orthodontist I have "TMJ" and he said "I would not put braces on someone with TMJ. In my experience that's like adding fuel to a fire. It really flares up problems." On a different day, I the orthodontist for a referral to a good dentist, thinking the orthodontist would know a reputable dentist. He referred me to my current dentist (several other people have raved about him too) and when I asked him about my jaw he said "The best thing you could do is get braces." Unbelievable!!! Every time I go to this dentist for my routine cleaning I start getting the sales pitch from the hygienists. They clearly work on commission in there or something.
Although I cancelled my appointment to have the mercury fillings removed my husband was convinced that he should still do his (they told him some story about it effecting his gums!) Now, all he talks about is how sore his jaw is. I'm so glad I didn't fall for it! You really need to take these quacky people with a grain of salt.
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By Burton:
Tennis Tom,
I actually suckered myself into buying that $500 night guard. This happened at the time my TMS pain was at its peak (obviously, before I knew it was TMS) and I was desperate for some explanation as to WHY my entire upper body was in pain. I found the night guard on the internet and its makers claimed that teeth grinding - something I've done since childhood - caused all kinds of muscular imbalances, spasms etc. Their quack theory was, stop the grinding, stop the spasms/pain. Ironically, the thing made me grind my teeth more than ever and made it very difficult to fall into a deep sleep. And of course it had no effect on my TMS pain, not even a brief placebo one.
You're right about the thing being $.50 worth of plastic and it took the dentist about five minutes to customize it for me. Amazingly enough, my health insurance which is legendarily tightfisted covered most of the $499.50 markup. It's still in the very back corner of my bathroom drawer because, I don't know, I hate to throw away a $500 piece of plastic. :) Maybe I could use it for a Halloween costume or something...
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By tt:
Regarding dentists, I had been going to a dentist for years that was quite professional, then he retired and sold his practice. I tried the new dentist for a year and became dissatisfied and found a new one that I am happy with again. There were several reasons I quit the other one. The hygenist was always lecturing me about flossing and how to brush. I got tired of being chastised by her during my three to four preventative cleanings a year. The hygenist was also always hard selling me on buying a $500 mouth piece to sleep with.
She said I was grinding my teeth at night. I never noticed this or did I really care. She kept insisting I needed it. It's probably 50 cents worth of plastic for $500.
The last straw, was when the I needed (?) a cap for my front tooth. I remember the dentist calling in all the other employees and the technician who made it, to ooh!, and ah!, over what a great job they had done cosmeticaly matching my tooth color, (I could care less). I felt like some horse on exhibition with my mouth wide open. They never asked me what I thought about it.
So the next day I'm out on the tennis court and hit a really big serve and felt something fly out of my mouth. A while later I saw this little white thing half way to the net and sure enough it was the cap. Oh, and I forgot, the temp they put, on came unglued the day after they put it on too.
So I go back and I'm sitting in the chair and they stick a piece of paper in front of me to sign. It says, if the cap comes off again, they would not be responsible for it and I would have to pay for a new one. I signed, (it's kind of hard not to, when someone has a drill to your head). But, right then, and there, I decided to find a new dentist's office. After a year, I'm very happy with the new office. The hygenist has never mentioned anything about me grinding my teeth or needing a night-guard piece. The new dentist has only replaced one old filling. The old dentist lived in a very affluent area and her kids had horses.
tennis tom
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By Laura:
Thank you Susie, Tennis Tom, and Burton. You all have made me feel so much better! I was really starting to think it was me. Tennis Tom, I will definitely read the Quack Watch article. The interesting thing is, the hygienist who was "selling" me on this is a new hygienist who just happens to be trying to get a loan through someone my husband knows. She told my husband she is ready to declare bankruptcy. I really think they must work on cohoots with the dentist and receive some sort of commission and I was just one more person to help meet that quota. Anyway, thank you everyone for making me realize I did the right thing. My feeling on my fillings is "if it aint broke don't fix it."
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Edited by - tennis tom on 03/01/2007 10:53:19 |
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JohnO
USA
63 Posts |
Posted - 03/01/2007 : 11:09:44
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| I have heard of more cases where those expensive mouthguards are just big moneymakers for the dentists and the labs that make them. Dentist tells the patient he needs one and the dentist gets a kickback fom the lab for getting the lab the business. I was told I needed one literally 20 years ago and my teeth are fine. I think a lot of that is a big rip off. |
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Wavy Soul
USA
779 Posts |
Posted - 03/01/2007 : 14:35:06
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Yup - me too!
My hard guard made my teeth hurt more.
Then I got a soft, more elaborate guard from another dentist who is a specialist in TMJ (and seems very nice and knowledgeable).
Woke up with worse agony than trying to cure.
Then just threw up my hands and continued my TMS cure, including lecturing about it to lots of people for a week. Within that week my pain improved by about 90%. Guess I convinced my own brain!
It's amazing how many people all this could put out of business.
xx
Love is the answer, whatever the question |
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Victoria008
USA
26 Posts |
Posted - 03/03/2007 : 15:51:25
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Great topic. I don't know if I grind my teeth at night but I sure do during the day. When I think back I beleive I started doing it around the same time the pain started. Lots of stress going on then and I was a nervous wreck. I beleive it is all related. I still do it quite a bit, has become quite the habit, my teeth are a mess! In any case I just try to catch myself and relax my mouth.
Victoria |
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2scoops
USA
386 Posts |
Posted - 06/15/2007 : 09:48:04
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I believe I have been doing this lately. I wake up and my jaws are tight. I had my amalgams taken out, about 11 months ago, and I may have been grinding my teeth every since then. I wish I never had this done, cause I've had nothing but senstivities and pain from it. Plus it seems my bites off, whih I had checked 3 different times. I guess they got me into believing the whole mercury poisoning thing. MD and other neurolgical dieases run in the family, so I thought I was protecting myself. I'm about to put dentists in the same categories as ortho, neurs and who ever else.
Anyone treat teeth grinding as TMS? |
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Shary
147 Posts |
Posted - 06/15/2007 : 10:24:24
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I don't think I grind my teeth when I sleep but I sometimes clamp them together tight enough to make them hurt for a few hours. I haven't got a guard. I suspect it would be one of those things I stick with for a week or so, then it would gather dust in a drawer after that.
Also, usually in connection with the sore teeth, I sometimes wake up out of a dead sleep with my mind full of some anxiety-causing issue that makes it impossible to go back to sleep. This sort of thing is very unpleasant, like a subconscious boil bursting and spewing toxic waste into my sleepy, barely-conscious brain. (Sorry for the graphic description but I can't think of a better one.) The subconscious is supposedly closer to the surface during sleep, so maybe that's why these things happen at night. When I think about it during the daytime, these issues never seem as bad, but obviously that isn't the opinion of my troubled and troublesome inner child. |
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Grinding teeth at night
