How many Grind your teeth

[brians2000]

I read the thread about dry mouth causing cavities and that got me wondering how many grind their teeth. I have been grinding my teeth for a few years and now the only way to save them would be by getting crowns or caps. Not sure which one but the dentist said I would have to get every tooth fixed because I have ground all of my teeth equally. I was wondering if it is something I take that causes me to grind my teeth or is it just the pain I have. The dentist told me there is no reason to fix my teeth right now because I would grind anything new down also. Please let me know if you grind your teeth or what keeps you from grinding your teeth.

[RustyD]

How about using one of the teeth guards that they sell at sporting goods stores, especially if you are doing this at night?

Just a thought...

[BrokenBladder]

No I don't grind my teeth, but Rusty has a great point about the teeth guards. Also the dentist may be able to suggest something.

[Don Henry]

I grind them and grit them all day. My dentist did fit me with one of those "night guard" things. It was really expensive and I think that a sport one might have been just as comfortable for less than a 10th the cost. However, the barn door was already open, I have ground off the enamel on quite a few of my teeth and they need capping. The dentist is very happy about this as he has a new baby. Guess whose money is gonna feed it for the next year.

[brians2000]

My dentist made me a mouth guard but I haven't gotten used to wearing it I think I have tried the mouth guard twice in the past year. I am just not comfortable having it in my mouth. when it is in I tend to grit my teeth even more although I am not grinding my teeth I still keep my jaw shut tightly and this causes headaches.

[illusion129]

I too seem to grind my teeth all day long, especially if I'm driving. In my opinion I always seem to sit and grind my teeth when my pain levels start to increase, so perhaps that is what is causing your problem, brians2000.

On the other hand, whenever I used to take any opiate combination that contained Tylenol I would be so jittery that I would grind my teeth then too, but that was more night-grinding. Now that I just take plain old Oxycodone HCl for BT pain (no APAP) I only find myself grinding through the day as my pain increases.

I know it's horrible, but to keep me from grinding my teeth, especially while driving, I usually either put a piece of candy in my mouth or, more frequently, smoke a cigarette.

[cindybear]

My dentist said I did in my sleep, but I don't remember..:p She did mention one of those expensive guards or the mouth peices. Hugs, Cindy

[curiousforever]

I did when I was married to my ex - from stress.

[krashleen]

I used to grind my teeth at night, and clench my jaws together a lot.

After my decompression surgery for chiari, I *think* they fixed the TMJ thing going on, I started waking up with dry mouth, which means I wasn't clenching and grinding throughout the night. Whew!

I had veneers done, and its a misery I wouldn't want to go through again! I was in pain from that...plus the lab said my one front tooth wasn't ground enough down, so I had to go back in and have it ground to NUBBINS!! THAT HURT!!

There is another guard that you can buy over the counter at the drugstores, to fit your mouth..using hot water and small scissors to fit to your mouth. I used that before surgery..but they are only as effective as much as you wear it! You get the picture that I would forget..

[LKAHMS]

I have had some problems with my eye teeth due to grinding my teeth or gritting them. It's from when the pain was so bad I could not even relax & did not know I was doing it. I did have one of the mouth guards made by my old dentist (Paid a fortune for it) but it was very uncomfortable. My new dentist did not recomend one.

[Kira]

I grind my teeth, and I have TMJ. I have had a couple of different kinds of mouth guards but haven't used one in a couple of years. The first one I had was very comfortable... it was clear and soft and fit over my teeth but wasn't all big like the sport ones.

The second one I had, I got from the orthodontist guy who was trying to treat my TMJ. It was a hard plastic thing that went on my top teeth, and he kept adding to it and making it bigger to try to do something or other to my TMJ joint. It just made my TMJ a whole lot worse, though. This was before we knew I had a myopathy and that I get much worse muscle pain from simple exertion, stretching, etc than most people do, because for me the muscle tissue is actually dying (not just sore). So I think that all of the things he had me doing, and wearing that stupid hard bite plate thing that put the joint in a funky position, just made the muscles unhappy and made the whole thing worse. All I do for my TMJ now is avoid chewing gum, eating bagels or steak or things like that, and live with it. The whole jaw pops and cracks disgustingly on that side, though. Maybe it will get worse as I get older... hope not.

The soft mouth guard I originally had from my dentist, though, worked pretty well. I was thinking about asking for a new one next time I go to the dentist.