Grinding teeth at night

[mustangsally65]

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I did a search but didn't find anything, so I thought I would ask you experts here. 😀

I'm pre-med, so I don't have any dental experience. However, I do grind my teeth at night and wake up a lot with jaw pain, tooth pain etc.

My question is: who would I see to correct this problem? There are a lot of dental specialists, and I don't know whether I should go see an orthodontist (to get a guard to wear at night made) or some other type of dentist.

My regular dentist dismisses the problem, but I have had this for years and years, and have been having TMJ symptoms, so I was hoping to find a solution.

Where would you send me for a referral?

 

[mshheaddoc]

I did a search but didn't find anything, so I thought I would ask you experts here. 😀

I'm pre-med, so I don't have any dental experience. However, I do grind my teeth at night and wake up a lot with jaw pain, tooth pain etc.

My question is: who would I see to correct this problem? There are a lot of dental specialists, and I don't know whether I should go see an orthodontist (to get a guard to wear at night made) or some other type of dentist.

My regular dentist dismisses the problem, but I have had this for years and years, and have been having TMJ symptoms, so I was hoping to find a solution.

Where would you send me for a referral?

My mom actually had this issue and her family doctor helped her out with that. She had a REALLy bad issue with the grinding and wore a retainer at night to help it. (She then went to her dentist)

I found this website with tips.

http://www.ctds.info/tmj.html

I found my problem when I had this was stress. I found ways to destress prior to bed and worked on my posture. Now I have back pain 😉 lol

 

[rocknightmare]

you can get a night guard from your general dentist to reduce the damage to your teeth, but personally i feel like one should solve the problem of grinding in the first place (usually stress related). anyways i grind like crazy but i am improving.

 

[Pelotari]

I did a search but didn't find anything, so I thought I would ask you experts here. 😀

I'm pre-med, so I don't have any dental experience. However, I do grind my teeth at night and wake up a lot with jaw pain, tooth pain etc.

My question is: who would I see to correct this problem? There are a lot of dental specialists, and I don't know whether I should go see an orthodontist (to get a guard to wear at night made) or some other type of dentist.

My regular dentist dismisses the problem, but I have had this for years and years, and have been having TMJ symptoms, so I was hoping to find a solution.

Where would you send me for a referral?

I don't grind, but I do clinch my teeth during my sleep. My understanding is that the treatment / solution would be the same for both clinching and/or grinding: use a splint at night. It feels a bit weird at first, but now it is just second nature. I use it every night, and it has made a difference. How do I know? My molars are not cracking anymore 😱 and I find drool spots on my pillow now (i.e. my jaw muscles are relaxed). 👍 Sorry, kids...didn't mean to be nasty here.

My (General) Dentist made the splint for me.

 

[mustangsally65]

Thanks for the info. I will ask whichever one I visit first, family doctor or dentist.

Hmmmm. Drooling all over your pillow? Sounds really glamorous. Maybe I"ll just keep the grinding/clenching. . . 😉

 

[QTpieDMD]

You know, it's the oddest thing. My little brother who is only 6 years old grinds his teeth when he sleeps. One night when I went home, I was sleeping and he came in the room with me I think after a nightmare. When I woke up in the morning I clearly heard him grinding his teeth. I don't think he's incredibly stressed out but my entire family said they've noticed it. I'm thinking of taking his impressions, pouring up models, and making him something. I know I'd have to do it pretty often cuz he's so young. Does anyone have any suggestions for that?

 

[mustangsally65]

You know, it's the oddest thing. My little brother who is only 6 years old grinds his teeth when he sleeps. One night when I went home, I was sleeping and he came in the room with me I think after a nightmare. When I woke up in the morning I clearly heard him grinding his teeth. I don't think he's incredibly stressed out but my entire family said they've noticed it. I'm thinking of taking his impressions, pouring up models, and making him something. I know I'd have to do it pretty often cuz he's so young. Does anyone have any suggestions for that?

I used to do that when I was young. I shared a room with one or both sisters while I was growing up and they used to complain about me. But when they got older and they needed braces, I got lucky and never had to have braces. My teeth are very straight, but I think probably needed braces because I still grit my teeth.

I think it has been theorized that humans grit their teeth to even out the bite, because when you're unconscious and your jaw isn't aligned then your body tries to fix it by grinding to make the teeth fit together better. Which is why kids do it, since their teeth are coming in/ being replaced by adult teeth.

 

[UTDental]

There's a bunch of theories out there on how to correct TMJ disorder. The one thing I'd do first and foremost is have a nightguard made to protect the precious enamel you have left. I wear an upper and lower nightguard so no enamal is being worn (my front teeth are straight across the incisal edge from years of grinding).

 

[lnn2]

The one thing I'd do first and foremost is have a nightguard made to protect the precious enamel you have left. I wear an upper and lower nightguard so no enamal is being worn.

I second that. If you grind your teeth at night (bruxism) then you need to wear a night guard to prevent your teeth from being wearing down (attrition).
A general dentist can make you a night guard. If you need further evaluation then you can see a specialist, a Prosthodontist, who is a specialist of your bite (occlusion). You can also go to a local dental school for consultation of TMJ disorder and bruxism.
Don't piss your money away by seeing a family doc. They can only Rx meds for muscle relaxation or referring you back to a dentist.

 

[aphistis]

I hate to kill the discussion here, but SDN isn't a place to give or receive medical advice. To recycle the party line, anybody with concerns about their dental health should seek a dentist's advice. Sorry for crashing the conversation.