Yes, folks, I’m wondering how to do this. Mortar and pestle, maybe? It’s for a spell.
Ha ha, sighhh. But seriously, folks.
I grind my teeth from time to time, resulting in jaw pain and teeth fractures. The ol’ dentist wants to fit me for a night guard, which’ll set me back 300 bucks (minus insurance). I recently bought a boil 'n fit night guard (not a sports guard) for just this problem. It seems all right so far, but I’m scared it will screw up my teeth (either by moving them around or keeping my thick, acidic saliva close to them all night so it can burn off my enamel). Any fellow grinders have advice?
Do you have a tooth problem? Grinding could be an indicator of that.
It’s bruxism. A friend of mine suffers from it, but in her case it’s from stress (job, caregiving, etc.) If you could de-stress and decompress, it might help.
It is often related to stress… Mine is anyway. I’ve boken a couple teeth this way, and occasionally wake up with loose teeth as well.
A while back I was fitted with a night guard (cost me 32 quid) and it helped tremendously. Not had a problem with the saliva/enamel erosion. Also, if you see your dentist regularly, and care for your teeth as recommended, there should not be a problem.
Perhaps look into meditation, or some other relaxation techinque to help lower your stress levels? This may help quite a bit on reducing your suffering.
Please note: IANAD… just offering ideas.
I have one of the $300 jobbies, and given the amount of adjusting and fitting the damn thing takes, I’d be really surprised if the boil and fit one would have done the job for me. Maybe you don’t have the same type of problem I had, so it’ll work for you.
I tended to grind on the left side of my mouth. It can be incredibly painful - a pounding, throbbing pain that gave me headaches and jaw aches. The plastic guard I used was clear, hard plastic, and was carefully adjusted by the dentist to minimize the amount of contact on the main areas I’d grind. This takes approximately 30 minutes and is needed every few months or so, as my jaw changes and I wear down the plastic on the side that gets the most grinding.
Also, note that most of this is in the past tense. I rarely grind my teeth anymore. I don’t know if it has anything to do with the guard or what, but I don’t use it much anymore because I don’t have the need. 4-5 years ago, though, I didn’t spend a night without it.
I’ve found that when I’ve started grinding my teeth, it’s that because I haven’t been getting enough calcium in my diet. I find that if I cut back on my caffeine and swallow calcium pills a couple of times a day, that I stop grinding my teeth shortly thereafter. (Learned about it from Prevention magazine.)