5 ms·

TIL! My jaw is almost never relaxed, and I clench my teeth together when I sleep. Interesting correlation.

by davidmurdoch 6y ago

hoka-one-one 6y ago
You're supposed to clench your teeth together when you sleep. What's the alternative? Hanging your mouth open?
- Fargren 6y ago
  Lips closed, teeth unclenched. That's how I sleep anyways, as far as I can tell.
- graeme 6y ago
  You’re supposed to keep them somewhat together. If you clench them together that is Bruxism and it cracks teeth over the long run.
bookofjoe 6y ago
This company: https://jsdentallab.com/collections/guards https://jsdentallab.com/collections/guards makes pricey but very effective and comfortable mouthpieces for wearing at night while sleeping and/or during the day. They look exactly like the ones some NFL players use. I love mine. If I'd used one before discovering them three years ago at age 69, I wouldn't now be getting a mouthful of astronomically expensive ($6k apiece for extraction/bone graft/Ti screw placement/tooth) dental implants. My qualification: retired neurosurgical anesthesiologist
graeme 6y ago
Oh. Take it from me, go see a dentist, and ask them to look for cracks in your teeth, and receding gums. If they do a panorex x ray they can also look for bone growth in your jaw. I clench, didn’t know about it for years and so didn’t have a mouth guard. Have a bunch of cracks in my molars now. My dentist always used to say these sort of cracks were the biggest problem in adult dentistry. The solution is to get a mouth guard. Bottom guard type seems preferable. This will prevent future cracks, protect your gums, and protect the jaw joint. Unfortunately it doesn’t solve the problem, but no one seems to have figured that out yet. You can also use a Sleepguard device to measure clenching activity. A bit clunky, but it has been very useful for me in figuring out triggers for worse clenching and confirming I do it. My clenching started after that same jaw injury, I think. Or wisdom teeth extraction. Someone else recommended off the shelf guards. I would suggest a custom splint from a dentist. If the splint is misaligned you can clench unevenly and cause jaw structure changes.
- davidmurdoch 6y ago
  Thanks for the advice! I'll ask about this at my next appointment.
  - graeme 6y ago
    Oh and the word for this is Bruxism. Refers to both grinding and clenching. Clenching is often worse as it can stay hidden for a while.
Kaibeezy 6y ago
Apparently this is suddenly a bigger issue during the pandemic. I’ll look for that article... https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/08/well/live/dentists-tooth-teeth-cracks-fractures-coronavirus-stress-grinding.html https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/08/well/live/dentists-tooth-...

TIL! My jaw is almost never relaxed, and I clench my teeth together when I sleep. Interesting correlation.

hoka-one-one 6y ago

You're supposed to clench your teeth together when you sleep. What's the alternative? Hanging your mouth open?

Fargren 6y ago
Lips closed, teeth unclenched. That's how I sleep anyways, as far as I can tell.
graeme 6y ago
You’re supposed to keep them somewhat together. If you clench them together that is Bruxism and it cracks teeth over the long run.

bookofjoe 6y ago

This company: https://jsdentallab.com/collections/guards https://jsdentallab.com/collections/guards makes pricey but very effective and comfortable mouthpieces for wearing at night while sleeping and/or during the day. They look exactly like the ones some NFL players use. I love mine. If I'd used one before discovering them three years ago at age 69, I wouldn't now be getting a mouthful of astronomically expensive ($6k apiece for extraction/bone graft/Ti screw placement/tooth) dental implants. My qualification: retired neurosurgical anesthesiologist

graeme 6y ago

Oh. Take it from me, go see a dentist, and ask them to look for cracks in your teeth, and receding gums. If they do a panorex x ray they can also look for bone growth in your jaw. I clench, didn’t know about it for years and so didn’t have a mouth guard. Have a bunch of cracks in my molars now. My dentist always used to say these sort of cracks were the biggest problem in adult dentistry. The solution is to get a mouth guard. Bottom guard type seems preferable. This will prevent future cracks, protect your gums, and protect the jaw joint. Unfortunately it doesn’t solve the problem, but no one seems to have figured that out yet. You can also use a Sleepguard device to measure clenching activity. A bit clunky, but it has been very useful for me in figuring out triggers for worse clenching and confirming I do it. My clenching started after that same jaw injury, I think. Or wisdom teeth extraction. Someone else recommended off the shelf guards. I would suggest a custom splint from a dentist. If the splint is misaligned you can clench unevenly and cause jaw structure changes.

davidmurdoch 6y ago
Thanks for the advice! I'll ask about this at my next appointment.
- graeme 6y ago
  Oh and the word for this is Bruxism. Refers to both grinding and clenching. Clenching is often worse as it can stay hidden for a while.

Kaibeezy 6y ago

Apparently this is suddenly a bigger issue during the pandemic. I’ll look for that article... https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/08/well/live/dentists-tooth-teeth-cracks-fractures-coronavirus-stress-grinding.html https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/08/well/live/dentists-tooth-...