Stress all day, gnash all night

While I found your article informative, it wasn't big on alternatives to a mouth guard. I too, have been through several expensive ones, and the pain in my jaw and teeth are now threatening my ability to function normally - eating, sleeping, etc.

Any other suggestions besides botox, and anti-depressents (which can actually cause bruxism)?

Sincerely,
Christine Szolkowski

cmcancelli wrote:

While I found your article informative, it wasn't big on alternatives to a mouth guard. I too, have been through several expensive ones, and the pain in my jaw and teeth are now threatening my ability to function normally - eating, sleeping, etc.

Any other suggestions besides botox, and anti-depressents (which can actually cause bruxism)?

Sincerely,
Christine Szolkowski

Taking calcium (calcium citrate obsorbs best) with vitamin B6 before bedtime helps alot.

read this:

http://www.is.wayne.edu/mnissani/bruxnet/advi...

lots of ideas there. i am going to try three things in the very near future as i also
am becoming disfunctional, and on top of that have a very tight budget. i'd have to say
i concur with the above link in that i have personally found mouth guards to be an expensive joke.
my bruxism is primarilly stress related, that much i know.

a) a swimming nose plug to keep my mouth open.
b) the magnesium, calcium, vitamin B etc, diet. described at above link. do a google search for magnesium rich foods.
nuts especially peanuts, brocolli, spinash, halibut, tuna, salmon
c) i have no idea if this will work but i'm going to try a variation on the
taste tecnique advocated at the above link. i'm going to get empty capsules
and fill them with strong salt water and/or garlic and adhere the capsules
to my teeth with denture adhesive. then when i bite hard i'll wake up. that's
the theory anyway.
d) tai chi, in the past i vanquished my bruxism with tai chi, but i have not done that in 5 years.
e) clonazepam/clonopin has worked for me in the past but with unwanted side effects

i've bookmarked this page, and will check back periodically. i'd like to know if anyone else has success
with the above techniques and i will report back here with my experiences as well.

look at this:

http://www.drjimboyd.com/book/Title.htm

report on nose plug.

the swimming nose plug has made a huge difference. it took a few nights to find a comfortable but stable fit that wouldn't fall off and didn't hurt too much. i recommend the metal kind with rubber at the ends, because it is easiest to manipulate (i tried several).

it has not worked 100% but i think that is due in part to my stressing and straining during the day, and possibly also some clenching during sleep, but i don't think so because now when i wake up my mouth is wide open and almost dried into that open position so i can't move it.

side effects:

extremely dry mouth, can't even talk it's so dry in the morning (i live in the desert). keep a bottle of water by your side and drink/swish often. you'll find yourself waking up quite a bit the first few night but then you'll get used to it, and won't wake up any more, stick with it.

quiet sleep. my wife says i'm much quiter now and don't thrash about as much, as well as i don't snore anymore, and i'm a big snorer.

wake up at six and feel like i can actually get up and do things!

p.s. i aint no doctor, if i were i'd be trying to take your money. no but seriously, there may be harm to be done by the above technique, i asked one doc and he said "go for it!" though, so i'm not that worried. the dry mouth is a trade off i'm quite happy to live with. please everyone post your experiments here. i'm actually a web developer and i'm thinking of starting a forum on the topic.

Hi Polypus,
I've just been diagnosed with Bruxism and am supposed to get fitted for a splint. From what I've read splints dont stop bruxing, they just protect the teeth so Im not too convinced that this is the right way to go.
I like your idea of using a nose clamp... I'm going to try it out. It makes sense more that half the stuff I've seen on the net so far. I'm thinking of trying a small bit of surgical tape across my nostrils and see if that works.
I also liked your capsule glued to the teeh idea... the taste based approach sounds reasonable but it looks like not many dentists offer it so I've been thinking of coming up with a DIY version.
But anyway, like I said I'm going to try the nose blocking idea fist.
Thanks for the idea,
Krinoid.

I have tried putting tape on my nose at night. It has helped me more than anything I have tried. Has anyone else tried this for a long period of time and had success?

hi everyone,

glad to hear the nose thing is working. i have an improvement to share with you all. most nights the swimming nose plug would fall off, or maybe i even pulled it off in my sleep, which means i was only partly protected. i experimented with ways to hold it on and found that the best way was with panyhose or tights, yes it's true they are just the right material. rip them if necessary so that you have one leg only, or enough to tie it around your head to hold the swimmimg plug in place. note that you are tying it around your head, not wearing it on your head bank robber style. you can stretch the material out a bit so that it covers your whole nose. there is one side effect; your partner will think that you look like you just walked out of a horror flic :)

i'm going to try the surgical tape as soon as i get a chance. i've also been researching latex mask building and am going to try to build custome latex plugs, in which case i'll let you all know how to do that too, maybe i'll even make a proper web forum.

keep sharing folks, it's the only way.

cheers,
_c

i am at my wits end and i can safely tell anyone thinking of getting a splint do not waste your money, they are a waste of time and actually made my grinding worse! i have been getting treatment from a top dentist (questionable though!) and feel like i actually know more about the subject than he does!
I have tried everything: muscle relaxants, anti depressants, valium!, calcium, magnesium, B12, various hard and soft splints, nothing has worked. I now dread falling asleep because i know i will wake up in pain, my teeth are chipped and badly worn down and my jaw muscle on one side of my face is now much larger tahn the other side, this is not a good look on a young person.
I also tried the nose clip but i still clenched all night, i actually closed my mouth tight at some stages and stopped breathing just so i could grind!
I am now thinking of alternative approaches as i have nothing left to loose, has anyone tried hyptnotherapy?
any info will be very much appreciated
many thanks in advance

Hello
I never knew about this condition but did a search on jaw clamping as my mouth is so sore and my husband told me I have been grinding my teeth at night, came across this forum, sometimes during the day my mouth clamps together and it takes a minute or so to work out how to open it ...it really hurts so much as you know, but seems to be hurting more around a tooth where I had a root canal done around 12 years ago..this is my first experience of the pain and realized a few days ago that my teeth had been clamped together when I awoke that day at first I thought this was the cause of the pain which got worst through the day then decided it may be an abcess but there is no swelling so and it has not got any worst, actually is a bit better today I slept on my side last night to try a nd s top doing the clamping.... I get relief by putting a heated wheat bag on the area and taking panadol...thanks for the info provided here.

hi bruxer at your wits end,
when i had it really bad like you years ago, i elimnated my symptoms completely by
a) seeing a shrink
b) doing intensive tai-chi, i.e for hours every day (yoga might have similar effect)
c) cutting out ALL stimulants from diet, coffee, sugar, alchohol, smoking, etc., and generally eating very healthy home made foods
since i've stopped doing all of the above it has come back, but not quite as badly. the nose plug works pretty well for me, but tai-chi was the best.
good luck

update: the best method by far that i have thusfar found for insuring that my nose stays blocked during the night is to first put a swimming nose plug on (the kind with the metal arch), and then tape it down with surgical tape. i tried various other things including using just surgical tape with no plug but they did not work very well.

also a doctor told me that my clenching might be due to a reaction to stomach acid coming up. he said he has cured many people using antacics and muscle relaxants. it didn´t really work for me as my clenching is more anxiety based, but maybe might work for some of you.

probably my final improvement to share on the nose plug. i found that i would get acne and also chaffed skin under the the rubber pads of the nose plug, and also that the plug would get very dirty over time. the solution is to put two pieces of surgical tape on each rubber end so that the non-sticky side of the tape is against your skin, and the rubber of the plug does not make direct contact with you. after that put the plug on and tape it to your nose. doing this i no longer get the acne and the plug stays on all night. the plug also stays relatively clean.

An alternative to the traditional nightguard is the NTI device, a small acrylic piece fitted to your front teeth preventing grinding AND clenching. You can find out more at http://moderndentallv.blogspot.com/ There is a link to the NTI website with news video feed.

My teeth started to ache last week. I went to the dentist and he said I was grinding my teeth. High stress job. The teeth have loosened a little. Anyone else have the problem of loose teeth? Will the teeth tighten back up? The dentist says yes.

The NTI mentioned by Las Vegas Dentist on 11/09/06 absolutely DOES WORK. I was having jaw pain & my back teeth were a little loosened & shifting. Using the NTI stopped the night-time grinding. There is another day-time version of the NTI, also, but I did not need it. If your dentist is not trained in how to provide the NTI (which the dentist fabricates in the office while you wait) then call around until you find one who can do it. It will stop the tooth damage, jaw pain and even stop some headaches.

I have been using the NTI nightguard for a week now, and have been experiencing worse pain than before (only now the pain is in my front teeth... not back) I have an appt to have it readjusted to see if that helps, but I was wondering if anyone else is having the same problem? I can't find any negative remarks for the NTI.. I'm hoping it's just a "fit" issue... even if it seems to "fit" just fine. I feel that I may just be clenching too hard...

i almost went for the NTI but because of the price versus risk of not working i declined. the actual device is a worthless piece of plastic, the guy who invented the NTI told me so himself btw. so the cost of $500-$700 that the dentists ask is purely for the half hour that it takes to fit it. that means that they are making over $1000 dollars an hour. what does that say about these people?

i have two slightly loose front teeth from grinding and clenching so hard. i do use a hard bottom nightguard, but had temporarily switched to a soft upper before i realized they were a bit mobile. for the people with loose teeth from bruxing -- how long did it take your teeth to stabilize? and did you get your teeth splinted/bonded to the teeth next to them? is the splinting temporary and your dentist will remove it? THANKS!

polypus wrote:

i almost went for the NTI but because of the price versus risk of not working i declined. the actual device is a worthless piece of plastic, the guy who invented the NTI told me so himself btw. so the cost of $500-$700 that the dentists ask is purely for the half hour that it takes to fit it. that means that they are making over $1000 dollars an hour. what does that say about these people?

Why would the inventor tell YOU its a worthless piece of plastic????