Bruxism

I found out that I grind my teeth in a weird way. I have never had any damage to my teeth noted by my dentist, but about 2 years ago I had whitening teeth made from molds of my teeth. After a few weeks of wearing them at night, I had holes on both the top and bottom molds, and my dental assistant friend made me another set. The same thing happened. Now he makes me 3 sets at a time! It's amazing that I don't have any wearing of my teeth, but I've mentioned this to my dentist and he said that my teeth are fine. He feels that maybe the trays are the cause of the grinding, and that I don't do it otherwise. I don't use the trays every day- I usually do it for a few days in a row when they need a "touch up" and that lasts for several months- I don't like that really fake white look. Anyways,if you do have bruxism and your teeth are being worn down and damaged, your dentist can make a sort of bite-block appliance for you to wear at night. I'm not sure what it looks like or how cumbersome it is, but if it saves your teeth it would be worth checking into.

Sure...GO to the dentist and get fitted for a night guard.

I'm studying this right now in physiologic psychology and abnormal psychology--under this catagory its a sleep disorder. I can let you know what I find out, but there's things you can do anyway. There are "teeth guards" you can buy, but that doesn't stop the problem, there's biofeedback! And physical therapy for TMJ because they go together! See a dentist for a TMJ referal and check up. There's also meditation and deep relaxation, some of these techniques you practice with guided visualization during the process of learning biofeedback.

Go to the libabary and look at AARP magazine in the back is a clear plastic device that is sold..You put it in your mouth at night and it prevents tooth grinding. It is not expensive and you rteeth are worth it. good luck

1.- Sometimes, I used to grind my teeth at night in the past. ..................................................... 2.- There are things that can be done for Bruxism. They are a.- Stress Management - if you grind your teeth because of stress, you may be able to prevent the problem with professional counseling or strategies that promote relaxation, such as exercise and meditation. b.- Behaviour Therapy i.- once you discover that you have bruxism, you may be able to change the behaviour by practicing proper mouth and jaw position - concentrate on resting your tongue upward with your teeth apart and your lips closed - this should keep your teeth from grinding and your jaw from clenching ..................................................... ii.- if you are having a hard time changing your habits, you may benefit from biofeedback, a form of complementary and alternative medicine that uses a variety of monitoring procedures and equipment to teach you to control involuntary body responses - during a biofeedback session, a therapist applies electrical sensors to different parts of your body. - these sensors monitor your body's physiological responses to stress - such as teeth grinding - and then feed the information back to you via auditory and visual cues - these cues may take the form of a beeping sound or a flashing light - with this fedback, you'll start to associate teeth grinding or clenching with stress and learn to change your behaviour - you may also be given a portable biofeedback device that you use at home - your therapist will explain how it works c.- Medications - in general, medications aren't very effective for treatment of bruxism - in some cases, your doctor may suggest taking a muscle relaxant before bedtime - if you develop bruxism as a side effect of an antidepressant medication, your doctor may change your medication or prescribe another medication to counteract your bruxism - Botulinum toxin (Botox) injections may help some people with severe bruxism that hasn't responded to other treatments. ----------------------------------------------------- This information is from The Mayo Clinic You can contact me in case of need.