Teeth grinding....Do you do this?
#325479 - 02/25/08 10:49 AM
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Nugget
Reged: 02/10/03
Posts: 2167
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I've always been a "teeth grinder" in my sleep, but my husband says it's been getting worse lately. The only way I know I grind them is him telling me and my jaws hurt and are tight. I'm battling headaches all the time lately, too. So I finally called my dentist this morning to see about getting a mouth guard. A gal I work with wears one and she said it has helped her tremendously. I was surprised my dentist could get me in so quick, though. I was able to get in next Monday. So I hope it helps. The only thing is now I'm nervous about the appointment and know I'll have to take Imodium that morning. It's a never ending cycle.
Do any of you grind your teeth in your sleep? If so, do you wear a guard and does it help?
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My husband wears a guard and it helps him a lot. If he forgets to wear it for awhile he notices that his jaw starts hurting again.
I'm pretty sure clench my teeth in my sleep. I don't grind, but when I'm first waking I'm usually aware of how tight my jaw is. Perhaps I should ask my dentist about a guard, too!
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IBS-A since age 12, and fructose sensitive; with the exception of my pregnancy, have been following Heather's diet since Nov. 19, 2007.
Taking 12g of Acacia per day. Relatively stable since March 2008!
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Erilyn....yes, I notice during the day that I'll be clenching my jaw alot. I try to relax it as much as possible. My chiropractor first suggested a mouth guard when I went to see him about a headache. He felt my jaw and neck and asked if I grind my teeth. He was surprised to find out that I do because he said I seem like such a calm person. I keep everything inside, though...which doesn't help IBS at all.
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I grind my teeth and clench my jaw when I am extremely stressed out. It doesn't happen that often, thankfully.
My husband wears a mouth guard and has for longer than we've known each other.
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I'm the exact same way! On the outside it doesn't look like I give much of a hoot about anything, but on the inside I'm usually a ball of nerves - even if I'm not consciously aware of it. I clench my jaw during the day too, but usually not to the point where I make my whole face hurt. In the morning, I notice that my teeth and face are quite achey, so I must do it pretty hard in my sleep!
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IBS-A since age 12, and fructose sensitive; with the exception of my pregnancy, have been following Heather's diet since Nov. 19, 2007.
Taking 12g of Acacia per day. Relatively stable since March 2008!
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nobody really knows the extent of my nerves and anxiety that I deal with on a daily basis. I have even thought about getting a punching bag that I can hit on at the end of the day to let some of the anger, frustration, and stress out. A lot of my anger comes from things I dealt with as a kid that I didn't realize bothered me until I got older. Things I have never told anyone. Just balled up inside me. I really need to let it out, but don't no how without hurting someone's feelings. I've tried counseling, but I didn't even completely open up then either. So it didn't do me much good.
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I have tried counselling in the past too. I couldn't open up either. I'm just not one to talk about my feelings. I don't find that it helps - it actually seems to make me feel worse. One thing that helped me a lot a few years ago was journalling. I could get everything out but I wasn't actually sitting and talking about it with someone. It was great. And I found it really helpful to go back and re-read sections and see how I felt about it later. It was very liberating. When I felt I was done, I tore all those pages out of the notebook and burned them. I think it may be time to try it again, except I never get any alone time anymore. I can't sit and write in a journal with hubby hovering around... 
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IBS-A since age 12, and fructose sensitive; with the exception of my pregnancy, have been following Heather's diet since Nov. 19, 2007.
Taking 12g of Acacia per day. Relatively stable since March 2008!
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I used to do some journaling, too. But, like you, I don't get much alone time any more. Hard to write when hubby is around. Today is a horrible headache day and I wish I could just go home, curl up and nap. But I need to be here at work, then when I get home, I'll need to do things there, too. Hubby is usually a help, but I hate to admit that I'm not feeling well again.
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Yup. When I did and used a mouth guard, it helped a lot. Headaches and jaw pain disappeared. Good luck! 
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Flipada - IBS-C "It's a gas, gas, gas"
**Lauren**
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I have worn a mouth guard at night for over 20 years. However, my dentist assures me that my problem is with bad braces and poor orthodontics to straighten my extremely buck teeth when I was a kid. My top and bottom teeth will never "fit" so when I am asleep my subconscious takes over and tries to grind them down. Crazy, huh?
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IBS-D, Gas & Bloating
Barbara50
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WOW! That's a shame. Can they realign everything that was messed up with the poor orthodontics?
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No because they pulled five permanent teeth and pushed everything back instead of widening the roof of my mouth. I had braces in 1960 and my orthodontist was in his 60s so it was old technology. However, the TMJ isn't a problem so long as I wear the mouth guard at night.
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IBS-D, Gas & Bloating
Barbara50
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that's too bad they messed you up like that. Glad to hear the mouth guard helps, though.
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Yep and Yep!!
I used to grind my teeth and I wore a mouth guard for about 5 years. Now, I don't grind my teeth at all. The dentist said because I wore the guard it helped keep my teeth apart at night and engrained it in my head not to grind.
Wishing you luck at the dentist Monday. I go March 18 for my checkup and yes, I always dread it too!
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Cassandra
Live like there's no tomorrow. Love like you've never loved before.
IBS A 20+ years, Chronic Migraines, Chiari Malformation (decompressed June 22, 2010), Brachial Neuritis, and ??? the list just keeps growing, but I'm still shiny side up! 
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Thanks Toady! I went for my cleaning and checkup in December, but I didn't think to ask about the teeth grinding because it wasn't bothering me much at the time. But lately it's really bothering me and my husband is noticing it more at night when I'm sleeping. I've always been a tense sleeper. I have two stuffed animals from my childhood (around 2 years old) where I had picked the fuzz clean off the animals in my sleep. There isn't even any left in the seams! My mom said that in the mornings there would be little piles of fuzz on the floor next to my bed. Wish I knew what caused all this tension in my life. Could it be because my mom smoked when she was pregnant?
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If you're not able to get into the dentist right away to have a custom guard made you can buy a hockey mouth guard. I remember my brother doing that when he didn't have dental insurance.
You need to relax while you sleep my dear!
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Cassandra
Live like there's no tomorrow. Love like you've never loved before.
IBS A 20+ years, Chronic Migraines, Chiari Malformation (decompressed June 22, 2010), Brachial Neuritis, and ??? the list just keeps growing, but I'm still shiny side up!
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