Who grinds their teeth at night?

[crank39]

Apparently i do, or so the NHS walk in centre tell me because today i woke up unable to open or close my mouth fully, its just stuck half open

So, what i have is called 'Temporomandibular joint disorder' , tell you what it bl00dy well hurts and on top of that i have a pounding headache and ear ache and its slowly creeping down my neck too.

So, how do you stop grinding your teeth then if you don't know your doing it?

 

[diane1]

........dont go to sleep?....

 

[Blasphemous]

It is VERY common crank. My wife does it, suffers headaches all the time because of it.... well, she's always telling me she's got a headache!

 

[crank39]

Wish my Mrs would get it, would love her mouth to be stuck open

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

Wish my Mrs would get it, would love her mouth to be stuck open

I'd love my missus mouth to be stuck shut!

 

[Steve]

Apparently I do it. But all the dentist said was to wear the retainer he made for me 4 years ago (which I've not worn for 3 years and 11 months and therefore no longer fits). I didnt want to go through having another cast taken - yuck yuck yuck, so kept quiet and hoped for the best

The thing is, surely he can see the retainer would no longer fit, because he made it right after I had my brace taken off when my teeth were perfectly straight. They have all moved slightly now, you'd think he'd be able to tell. Annoys me going to the dentist anyway, he and his wife have top of the range range rovers, always parked outside the place.

 

[crank39]

Yeah thats one dilema i have at the moment, go see dentist and get a mouth thingy made at no doubt the same price as one of his monthly mortgage payments OR wait for the swelling and pain to go down and hope i don't get it again

 

[ColJack]

a night time bite guard.? yeah I have to wear one ..
be warned, they do make your mouth dry as hell so have a glass a water etc on the night stand..

takes a bit of getting used to but it stops the grinding at night..

try a mouth guard / gum shield from a sports shop if you want a cheaper fix, but you might end up spitting it out since it's not molded to fit your teeth perfect..

 

[Mickymoody]

Apparently, I grind my teeth when asleep, and it's annoying to be woken up, shouted at "Your grinding your teeth!"..

The problem with me is that I'm also an insomniac, hence the time codes on here, so when I get sleep, I've often been awake for 2-3 days. And then get woken, when in deep sleep. Which makes the problem worse I guess? A guard would help your teeth, but what is the cause? Stress? An uncomfortable bed? Bad pillows? Too much light in the room?

Or medical issues? A dislocated jaw, bad teeth, gum problems?

In films, they always say bite down on this, if they are going to amputate something? Why is that? Is there something subconcious to say bite down, because there is some pain?

 

[glasgowgas]

you are actually suffering from a medical problem, i have it, its " borax......something or other"

see your dentist, have a proper gumshield made (appox £80) wear it every night, after a while its second nature, believe me no more deprived sleep, chipped teeth, aching jaws etc etc

best £80 i ever spent












apart from the divorce papers!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Mickymoody]

you are actually suffering from a medical problem, i have it, its " borax......something or other"

see your dentist, have a proper gumshield made (appox £80) wear it every night, after a while its second nature, believe me no more deprived sleep, chipped teeth, aching jaws etc etc

best £80 i ever spent

apart from the divorce papers!!!!!!!!!!

That's curing the end cause, and not why it happens in the first place...if it's a medical problem, then surely a medical cure is available? To cure the cause, not the end result?

Does wearing a custom built gumshield cure the problem? Or just mask it? So what is the cause of grinding? It's not like snoring, there are medical reasons behind that

 

[JohnD]

surely it's going to be a nervous habit, from stress or tension?

I hear it is a common cause of bad headaches, as well as tooth damage

 

[crank39]

you are actually suffering from a medical problem, i have it, its " borax......something or other"

see your dentist, have a proper gumshield made (appox £80) wear it every night, after a while its second nature, believe me no more deprived sleep, chipped teeth, aching jaws etc etc

best £80 i ever spent












apart from the divorce papers!!!!!!!!!!

Its called Bruxism, theres lots of sites dedicated to it seems. Feeling a bit better today after taking co-codamol and ibuprofen since yesterday morning, swelling has gone down a bit along with the pain, still cant fully close or open my mouth, if i try and force my mouth shut then my bottom jaw (mandible) moves to one side, should be ok by monday i think.

As for the mouth guard from the dentist to help with grinding then it might be a short term solution but it certainly isn't the cure but if you read the sites then there appears to be no known reason for grinding your teeth other than its just a subconcious thing.

 

[joe-90]

It's a throw-back to our evolutionary past when as a rodent who's teeth never stopped growing we would grind our teeth to keep them growing too long.

 

[Mickymoody]

It's a throw-back to our evolutionary past when as a rodent who's teeth never stopped growing we would grind our teeth to keep them growing too long.

I remember that term now - Bruxism, I wrote it down at the time, meaning to research it.

Going back a few hundred years, maybe to Roman times and beyond, there was a lot of grit in bread, and that would have worn teeth down. As that grit isn't there in modern bread, maybe it's evolution in progress? But I wonder what the trigger for it is, as not everyone does it, and nobody has done it for all their life.

Also is there a need to grind teeth down? Presumably, if a tooth grows abnormally, it could deform your face, so grinding it down is beneficial at a sub-concious level? ie more alluring to the opposite sex? (Or is that just wishful thinkling lol!)