Grinding at night

[dejavu]

I hope it's okay that I post another question here. Basically I've been grinding my teeth at night for years. I was fitted with a night guard by my dentist and that prevented wear on my teeth, although I still grinded away so hard on the guard that I wore deep indents into it. I was very concerned about getting braces and then wrecking my teeth since I'd no longer be able to use my night guard, but both my dentist and orthodontist assured me that I would most likely stop once the braces went on, that something about that would change things. Well...not so much.

As of Monday I'll have had my braces for one month. The first week with braces, I didn't grind or clench my teeth at night at all. I guess it just hurt too much to do so. But once that initial pain wore off, I've been back to my old habits. I'm at least clenching my teeth really hard at night, enough that I'm woken with tooth pain sometimes, and every morning I wake up with a sore jaw and my teeth clenched tight. It doesn't matter what I do. I make a conscious effort to try and relax my mouth as I'm falling asleep but it still happens.

I did ask the orthodontist's office what I should do in case I did continue to grind my teeth and they said there is absolutely nothing I can do. I'm not really okay with that answer though...what point is there in fixing my teeth in one way if I completely wreck them in another?

I'm just feeling discouraged...has anybody else gone through this? Is there anything I can do that I don't know about?

[ItsFreyja]

I would feel discouraged too if my trusted provider said there was nothing I could do! How disappointing. This is a common problem, though; the best thing I have seen suggested here is to get an inexpensive boil-and-bite mouthguard that you can reshape as your teeth move.

Alternatively, my husband is a grinder and likes these because he doesn't think he could handle the bulk of a full mouthguard:
http://www.amazon.com/Plackers-Mouth-Gu ... 003GDKH9C/
I used them occasionally early in my treatment, since I had some initial problems with clenching that I had never experienced before.

[dejavu]

I did have someone mention to me that the boil and bite mouth guards could be an option. They said if I didn't boil them to fit my teeth, then it shouldn't interfere with treatment. I had someone else tell me that those would hurt my braces though...and then when I checked the drug stores, the only mouth guards I could find were ones that fit pretty snugly over teeth, which I figured wouldn't work. I may have to take my search online.

Since you said you were clenching your teeth early on, does that mean you stopped? I'm just wondering if maybe somehow I'll end up stopping along the way...I don't think my bite is being corrected yet so maybe once my bite starts to change?

[EWUgal15]

I was a pretty heavy grinder before braces...and I still clench pretty tight at night, pretty regularly. I'll be a year into treatment on Nov 4. That said, my OMS suggested working with my dentist to fashion up a flexible night guard. It was custom so it would fit over my brackets without being so snug that it would work against my braces. It was bulky but it worked well. The only problem is having to replace it every 3-4 months as the teeth move (at $50 per guard that wouldn't be covered by insurance). I probably could have had a new one made back in June that would be good until after my surgery, but I didn't bother. I just kind of deal with it and neither the dentist, the orthodontist, nor the OMS have said anything about new wear on my teeth.

[ItsFreyja]

Since you said you were clenching your teeth early on, does that mean you stopped? I'm just wondering if maybe somehow I'll end up stopping along the way...I don't think my bite is being corrected yet so maybe once my bite starts to change?

Yes, I seem to have stopped clenching at night. I think I started because I initially had pretty big molar buildups that held my jaw in a way I just wasn't used to; I have mostly gotten used to them, I guess, and I've had them sanded down some too.

The causes of sleep bruxism are not well understood, so it's hard to know how it will go for you. If you grind because of structural issues with your teeth or bite, then maybe there is a good chance you'll "outgrow" it (but note that bite correction probably won't begin until mid-treatment); if you're a stress grinder like my husband, then I wouldn't count on it. Sending hopeful thoughts your way though!

[Dollienanayolim]

Hi, I have a silly question to ask. How do you know if you were grinding your teeth when you were sleeping? Sometimes I wake up with my jaw locked but I don't even know whether I'm grinding my teeth or not. Hmmm

[ItsFreyja]

Hi, I have a silly question to ask. How do you know if you were grinding your teeth when you were sleeping? Sometimes I wake up with my jaw locked but I don't even know whether I'm grinding my teeth or not. Hmmm

Not a silly question! My husband's dentist diagnosed his grinding from the tell-tale wear patterns on his molars. (I have never heard him grind, but I sleep with ear plugs so who knows.) If your dentist has never mentioned it to you, maybe you just clench without grinding.

[dejavu]

I wonder about that too actually. I was told I was grinding by my dentist, but when I wake up, all I'm doing is clenching really hard. I'm not sure, but it seems like clenching is probably pretty harmful on its own. Maybe it's not as bad as full on grinding, though.

[EWUgal15]

My grinding pre-braces was also diagnosed by the wear on my teeth.