[HN Gopher] The Year of Grinding Teeth
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The Year of Grinding Teeth
Author : bekind
Score : 38 points
Date : 2021-01-25 19:58 UTC (3 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.theparisreview.org)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.theparisreview.org)
| technofiend wrote:
| I'm getting braces due to clenching my teeth; I've pulled them
| out of alignment. Asking my dentist how to defeat the bruxism all
| he could suggest was having braces might do it.
| 01100011 wrote:
| FYI there may be an association between bruxism and sleep apnea:
| https://www.sleepfoundation.org/sleep-apnea/link-between-sle...
|
| I have both. I wear a very tough nightguard whenever I sleep. I
| tried a few 'comfort' guards but just ground through them.
| Finally my dentist got me a very hard plastic guard and it has
| lasted over 5 years.
|
| I'm naturally tense and I don't think I'll fix my bruxism until I
| can stop worrying about how I'm going to afford alimony and my
| retirement. Modern problems I guess.
| markdown wrote:
| Is there medication (maybe a mild sedative) you can take that
| prevents bruxism for a night?
| auganov wrote:
| Masseter muscle botox gets surprisingly little attention for this
| and derivative issues. Not too expensive. Very simple walk-in
| procedure, don't need consults. Zero effort. Not permanent (both
| a con and a pro), but some say their problem doesn't come back
| even after it wears off.
|
| Pretty much all other interventions (besides self-
| awareness/lifestyle) are way more involved and don't have a great
| record either way. Nothing is proven about botox either, but
| seems like the best thing to try first.
| tmamic wrote:
| We just started doing tests with couple dozen patients for my
| startup that provides multiple independent dental opinions. It
| turned out that 80% of people have bruxism.
|
| Yes, we only had less than 20 people so far, so this statistic
| will likely change. But what was worrying is that they had no
| clue. Even despite having tooth wear in a very advanced stage.
| kowlo wrote:
| I'm interested in this topic... my list
|
| - grinding teeth in sleep
|
| - nightly/morningly sleep paralysis
|
| - not being able to breath through nose
|
| sleep is hard...
| 11235813213455 wrote:
| Something I never paid attention to is that the natural/ideal
| resting position of your jaw is that you teeth never touch, and
| your tongue is touching your upper palate just behind front
| teeth. I had issues with grinding teeth when younger. But at some
| point I adopted that position unconsciously.
|
| This is a bit like resting breathing rate, the lower the better,
| but that's controlled completely unconsciously. Your lifestyle
| will influence it a lot though (exercise, relaxation, diet)
| pgt wrote:
| Curious if that tongue-palate trick would also reduce bruxism
| during stimulant use.
| wahern wrote:
| IME, yes. I tend to tap my teeth. Focusing on my tongue--
| pushing against my palette, keeping my teeth separated--
| helps.
|
| Seemingly coincidental remedy, too. I don't remember reading
| anything about the proper resting position of the jaw. I just
| found that the one the helped the other. In fact, I was
| worried doing this with my tongue was a no-no, but figured it
| was better than the alternative.
| castlecrasher2 wrote:
| I changed my resting tooth/jaw position recently, too, and it's
| made a big difference. I used to feel more stressed out in the
| mornings, and I was sure it was because of jaw clenching I
| would do at night which is now largely gone.
|
| And this is going to sound weird, but I've taken it even
| further by buying some baby chew toys off Amazon and chewing on
| them for maybe an hour a day. The benefits I've seen since
| starting about six months ago are 1) less teeth stress/pain at
| night and in the morning, 2) less nasal pressure/stress (pretty
| sure I have more breathing capacity through my nose now), and
| 3) I feel my face has widened ever so slightly but that may be
| the jaw positioning alone.
| amelius wrote:
| Doctors have told me specifically to _not_ eat chewy food,
| like chewing-gum, so what you say seems contradictory to me.
|
| Was there any reason to use toys instead of just chewing-gum?
| 11235813213455 wrote:
| Hehe, in my case, I have to chew a lot just for eating (raw
| food, mostly fruits and green/leafy vegs), since a few years.
| amelius wrote:
| Yes, the resting position is important (doctors have told me).
|
| I think another possible issue is that some people lock up
| their jaw without necessarily putting the teeth together. At
| least I do this if I don't pay attention. By "lock up" I mean
| that the jaw is simultaneosly pulled down by muscles and pulled
| up by the masseter. Then at night, the downward pulling muscles
| relax, and the upward pulling muscles (masseter) wins, and the
| actual teeth grinding occurs.
| graeme wrote:
| I asked about bruxism last year and got extensive replies. This
| may be of use to someone reading:
| https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23665164
|
| I did not solve mine, though it is signficiantly better managed.
| I got an improved night guard that isn't causing jaw
| misalignment, did some physiotherapy of the jaw and exercises to
| improve masseter joint junction, and used the sleepguard bruxism
| monitor so I can see when I'm grinding.
|
| The last one has become less useful as I've started knocking it
| off or turning it off in sleep, but it's helpful to know bruxism
| is happening even if you think you have fixed it.
|
| My new guard is a lower guard. I seem to grind more with it, but
| the upper guard was causing front tooth pain, so I think that may
| have interrupted grinding but been worse?
|
| Anecdotally I grind more since no longer having a dog.
| philip1209 wrote:
| Enjoyed my first-ever root canal a couple of months ago that was
| attributed to bruxism.
|
| P.S. - nights guards through dentists are expensive; note that
| there are some cheaper D2C options becoming available.
| bolangi wrote:
| FWIW, I've used these [audio
| lessons](https://www.feldenkraisresources.com/Sensory-Motor-
| Education...) to cure my own bruxism. It also cleared up the
| problem for several friends.
| amelius wrote:
| Thanks. I have some questions. How long did it take you to
| complete the program? Do you still need to do exercises? Was
| the improvement gradual, or sudden? And did you suffer also
| from daytime bruxism (teeth clenching e.g. while working behind
| a computer)?
| neonate wrote:
| https://archive.is/2hTAx
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