Help! Teeth clenching/grinding causing lack of sleep, exhausted after exercise....

[cdayley]

I first discovered my TMJ when I was 15, and had ground my eye teeth off so that nerves were exposed. I'm now 45. When I was 38, I went through very expensive, long TMJ treatment including biteplates, physical therapy, and orthodontia which worked wonders! Unfortunately, right when my braces were due to come off I was rearended, causing severe whiplash, which then caused more severe TMJ than I had ever had. After the whiplash treatment started, it was back to the whole gamut of TMJ treatments again. I'm the only person I know who got braces for my 40th birthday and again for my 43rd bday. I am now basically TMJ pain free. I will have to wear a retainer/biteplate combo for the rest of my life but my nighttime clenching/grinding is minimal. I also go in for massage therapy every 4 weeks for my back and neck. I also have them massage the TMJ affected muscles. It is great to finally be able to go through my work days without living on advil!
Chrys Dayley

[Orlita]

Wow, that gives me hope. I think it was orthodontia that caused my TMJ in the first place (shifting my natural bite & leaving me with no natural bite). But perhaps that could be undone.

So sorry that you had an accident after all that work.

The massage can definitely help. Wish I could afford it more often. But post-massage is the most relaxed my jaw has ever felt.

[frostyjan]

Originally Posted by Orlita

The funniest are probably the ones that go just over your two front teeth (I've had 'em all). That one -- billed as the ultimate miracle in TMJ and migraine eradication -- makes you look like a rabbit and talk like a clown.

They told me that one was impossible to remove in your sleep. Well, I had worse pain than ever because I kept contorting my mouth to (successfully) remove it.

Silly wabbit. These teeth were made for walkin', that's what they're gonna do. One of these days these teeth are gonna walk all over you.

This is the absolute WORST type of night-guard! If you wear it consistently over time, your other teeth can erupt and when you aren't wearing it, the teeth that aren't protected by the night guard will meet first and grind, cause a toothache, and potentially require a root canal or extraction.

If anyone takes anything away from this thread, at least know to doubt the dentist that would advocate a guard like the one described above, and ask if he has ever seen this happen to any of his patients.

DH is a dentist, and some people have great success with a cheap night guard and some folks need something altogether different. So much depends on the situation.

Just my 2 cents.

BTW-I couldn't ever be comfortable without my nightguard.

[suebella]

Originally Posted by boakley

I've had TMJ for over 10 years. I haven't, knock wood, had a bad flare up in a year, and prior to that it had been several years. I have a bite plate my dentist made, but the last time this reared it's ugly head, he also got me using hot compresses on the side of my face before bed - it really relaxes the muscles and has worked wonders for me. All I do is take a face cloth and wet it with as hot as I can stand water and lay it/press it against the side of my jaw that is the most tense. It's worth a try and inexpensive.

Beth

I have never heard of this but am going to try it. Thanks!


I weakened my teeth so extensively by grinding (and eventually, I had a minor accident that snapped them right off) that I now have crowns on six of my front teeth. I'll do anything to protect my investment, but I like to try cheap first!

[mercedes]

Reviving this thread to see if anyone has any new insight into this issue.

I have done the dentist guard and an OTC one - I couldn't recommend either.

As of late though, I have seen a proliferation of new OTC guards in amazon and other dentist related websites and some with good reviews. Anybody has tried any worth trying?

Also, any new therapies, books, etc on the subject?

thanks

[Orlita]

I have stopped wearing my guard -- after about 20 years. I realized that at least with the latest guard, it was the guard that was making me want to grind.

(But don't tell my dentist. He won't agree.)

I do have 3 crowns -- all from grinding & clenching.

But I do think I'm clenching/grinding less now. I also gave up coffee last month (never had a lot anyway -- about a cup a day). So I'm hoping that'll help.

And I bought a couple of TMJ self-help CDs. Haven't listened to them all the way through yet. But I do remember one part that said to visualize your jawbone like a loose screen door on a porch -- one that opened and shut with ease. That visualization seems to help me. Yoga & meditation do, too.

I'm massaging my jaw on occasion, too. I need to try the hot compress.

[Mary09(b)]

I've had bouts of severe TMJ pain in the past but not in many years. For me, I think it's from daytime jaw clenching. I am constantly, constantly consciously making myself relax my face and jaw. Your jaws should only touch when you're eating (or gently as you swallow). The rest of the time your teeth shouldn't touch. I think I've kept the TMJ pain at bay by focusing on keeping my jaw and face relaxed as much as I possibly can. Sometimes I wish there was something I could wear in the daytime to keep my jaw unclenched.

I feel for you night grinders. My S/O is one, which is one reason I sleep on a separate floor. It's LOUD.

I did buy a $500 night guard that got rid of a severe TMJ pain bout in one night of wearing it. Maybe it's coincidental. But it was worth the cost in my mind. I had an amazing TMJ specialist but he retired so I really hope it never flares up again.

[msladybug]

I did something to my jaw during a slip on the ice, dislocated it...and after that it would dislocate on a regular basis, and once, it locked shut, so that I could not eat (except soup and stuff like that) for several weeks, and for a couple of years after, mouth would only open enough for the tip of my little finger. The swelling in the jaw joint put my bite off. I wasn't grinding at night, and I felt best first thing in the morning. But eating and talking would start it up again, and then I'd work the jaw back and forth trying to find a comfortable position, but only making it worse.

I found that iceing the cheek with an icepack helped a lot, reducing the swelling in the jaw joint and allowing little by little more range of motion, and relieving pain. Advil. And massaging the cheek around the jaw joint helped too. I also had to checking myself to be sure I was not working or clenching the jaw. I saw a TMJ specialist, she recommended the icepacks. I found cold worked better than hot.

And then after years of pain, I realized one day it had stopped, and that teeth had shifted back so that my bite was right again.

[toaster]

I have a question...for those of you clenching your teeth at night, do you KNOW that you are doing it?

Here's what I ask. I have never had a clenching/grinding problem. During the past 2-3 weeks, however, I have had some discomfort on my right side of my jaw when opening my mouth wide (mostly when eating). Because I was also having a lot of cold sensitivity on that same side, I was worried I had a cavity or worse, so I went to the dentist. The dentist said that the type of jaw pain that I was describing is almost-always stress-related, usually from clenching the teeth at night.

At this point, the dentist didn't recommend a mouth guard--she thought it would likely resolve in a few weeks. (She did suggest soft foods, etc.) It just seems odd to me because I don't feel like I am clenching my teeth. (Although, on the other hand, I have been sleeping more poorly than usual, including waking up frequently.)

Thanks for your thoughts; I'm sorry to see that this is such a common issue.

[Fidget Queen]

Originally Posted by toaster

I have a question...for those of you clenching your teeth at night, do you KNOW that you are doing it?

Here's what I ask. I have never had a clenching/grinding problem. During the past 2-3 weeks, however, I have had some discomfort on my right side of my jaw when opening my mouth wide (mostly when eating). Because I was also having a lot of cold sensitivity on that same side, I was worried I had a cavity or worse, so I went to the dentist. The dentist said that the type of jaw pain that I was describing is almost-always stress-related, usually from clenching the teeth at night.

At this point, the dentist didn't recommend a mouth guard--she thought it would likely resolve in a few weeks. (She did suggest soft foods, etc.) It just seems odd to me because I don't feel like I am clenching my teeth. (Although, on the other hand, I have been sleeping more poorly than usual, including waking up frequently.)

Thanks for your thoughts; I'm sorry to see that this is such a common issue.

I didn't know. I thought my teeth were cracking and falling apart. I went into the dentist expecting him to tell me that he needed to pull several teeth, because I thought they had cracked in half. I was freaked to have such horrible teeth and gums after a lifetime of good teeth. It turns out that I had literally ground grooves into the teeth, I was loosening other teeth and my gums were receding due to the grinding all while having no clue I was doing it.

It started almost out of nowhere for me, too. It was due to a million things - illness, insomnia, anxiety, etc. I've been working on releasing head, neck and jaw tension, but nothing has worked yet. The night guard is a must.