I wear a mouth guard at nite, but god help me, when I am very stressed at work, as I have been the last 2 days, I come home with a really sore jaw, which I know means I have been clenching all day. And other times as well. One dentist, yeah, a dentist actually, recommended chewing gum.
This is painful, and a pain in the A**
If this is a problem for you, what do you do to keep yourself from doing this?
I clench my jaw when I am riding my scooter in cold weather. The solution is to get warm. Other than that I got nuthin.
I am a horrible teeth/jaw-clencher, horrible. Other than wearing a bite-guard at night (upon which I am absolutely dependent now), I don’t do anything. Well, I do try to consciously relax my jaw when I become aware that I am doing it but that is only a small minority of the time.
I missed this the first time around. I am surprised by this advice, actually. I have been a rabid gum chewer ever since I quit smoking cigarettes more than a decade ago and I firmly believe this habit has contributed significantly to my jaw pain/problems; as I chomp and clench the gum until it disintegrates into unchewable pieces. Gross, I know.
How is that disgusting? Hell, I swallow my gum and people think that’s weird.
I’d get a mouth guard but I’ve heard that they’re fearfully expensive. I’ve considered even getting an athletic mouth guard.
Well, the dentist said sugarfree gum would keep me from clenching. But it’s nasty.
Apparently if I’m chewing, I’m not clenching.
Guinastasia, there’s one called the Splintek bite guard, it’s not expensive, about $40, or less on Ebay. I like that one since I ruin them at about 5 times a year. Everything else, and I’ve tried an athletic mouth piece, ends up on the pillow.
Chewing your gum until it disintegrates into tiny little pieces of un-chewable glue that get stuck in between your teeth and need to be flossed out isn’t gross to you?
Btw, swallowing gum is weird. At least if it’s a habit.
I had a teeth clenching problem. I wore a night-guard. Then I got an open bite, and so now I don’t really have a problem anymore.
I used to get Botox injections every three months to relax the muscles. It was the only thing that worked. Unfortunately, this was back in the days when my insurance paid for it.
I was always told NOT to chew gum because it would aggravate my TMJ, which automatically is aggravated by the clenching.
My dad suffers from this problem a lot, ever since I can remember. It does seem to have to do with stress and whatnot.
I think I’ve recently picked it up trying to deal with the stress of being single again. I hope I can break the habit soon.
It’s definitely no fun 
Work stress, blagh. I had to stop putting my teeth together in a normal way all day and either push my lower teeth forward or to the side. It’s obviously uncomfortable, but that’s what made me stop.
I catch myself clenching my teeth all the time. So far, I haven’t developed pain or other problems as a result. I just try to be aware of it and unclench when I realize I’m doing it.
Diagnosed in my mid forties when the damage to my teeth was already done. Now I’m in my fifties my molars are beginning to crack and break, largely because of the clenching.
After a dentist diagnosed me, I checked in with my Dr, before spending over $300, for a night guard. She recommended a child’s, (I’m not that big!), sports mouth guard. The kind you heat up and then bite down on. She said just cut away any excess and try it out for a few weeks before committing and buying the expensive version. Just to see if it was effective. It worked a charm and was only $20-30, I seem to recall. I did buy the expensive one, as it really did make a difference!
I don’t use it any more though, since having a couple of molars extracted it no longer fits properly. And I don’t think I need it anymore, as the removal of those teeth seems to have made all the difference.
I’m a jaw clencher, however I’ve been taking magnesium supplements and I don’t clench my jaw anywhere near as much as I did.
I don’t clench during waking ours, but grind the crap out of my teeth in my sleep and wear a mouth guard that my dentist custom made for me. I just recently did a sleep study test, when I asked the technician the next morning if she saw anything she said “You’ll hear it officially from the doctor in a month, but it would appear you have a regular pattern of respiratory obstruction happening during your sleep” Sleep apnea FTW. Here I am walking around stupid all this time, I knew I could of been a civil engineer.
Clenching is a harder problem to fix than grinding because with grinding a mouth guard really does help prevent further damage. Although it can help with clenching its possible to still clench even while wearing the mouth guard. But you maybe able to experience some relief, you could try wearing it during the day when your able to. I’m a dental hygienist and this sounds totally unhelpful but we usually suggest a vacation to people who complain about increased clenching due to stress. I absolutely would not recommend chewing gum, that is unnecessarily working your jaw even more. Warm compresses when your watching TV can help a bit. I clench when I’m driving, so I try to be vigilant and make myself relax. So if your are aware of certain situations that are causing it more than others try to keep that in your mind.
I used to clench a lot in my late 20s. I had a night brace - one of the fancy $300+ ones - and that helped but it didn’t cure it because I did it as much or more during the day than I did at night. I eventually trained myself out of it by just being vigilant, and I haven’t needed the brace for over 10 years.
Still, though, I do respond to stress by clenching, and I actively have to make myself not do it sometimes. So far, so good.
As far as gum or other chewy stuff (like beef jerky), the mere thought of them makes my jaws ache. Not at all interested.
I’m a clencher and a grinder, to the point where a few years ago my dentist had to rebuild part of one of my molars that I had ground off. The solution was to learn how to give myself a jaw massage. Seriously. Learn where the pressure points are and how to make them relax, it makes a huge difference.
Chewing gum makes mine worse. I do jaw massage, night guard and a guided relaxation while going to sleep.
For example: YouTube
After needing two crowns on my back lower molars due to bruxism and not addressing the mouth guard my dentist wanted me to get for ten years, it turns out a mouth guard is a lot cheaper than crowns.
If I happen to fall asleep on the couch or something without my mouth guard, I will wake up to sore teeth. I never used to get sore teeth without the mouth guard, but that was just because I was used to it and the toll was taken on my enamel. Now I wear it strictly and if I go to bed without it I lay there and think about what’s wrong until I realize, duh, mouth guard’s not in. Mine was $500, custom molded out of very rigid and clear resin or plastic or something, and I wake up with a very unhappy mouth if I don’t wear it. My dentist and hygienist both agree though, that if I keep up this regimen I will keep all my teeth and might only need one more crown in a few years if the filling done when the other crowns were done a couple years ago fails.
So, two and possibly three crowns due to my own stubbornness over a simple mouth guard that I didn’t want to spend the money on ten years ago.
As to the OP, I found that being conscious of the clenching in the first place definitely helped during the day - teaching myself to loosen my jaw-set and bring my lower jaw forward a bit helped remind me not to clench. I have a slight overbite, so pushing my lower jaw forward to where my upper and lower front teeth are aligned, keeps me from biting down and though it feels awkward at first, doesn’t look weird. Rather than gum, I’ve actually foregone gum and haven’t chewed it in years, if I’m having a particularly clenchy day, I’ll bite down on a pen cap.