Posted by Luke on July 24, 2000 at 08:12:36:

In Reply to: Didn't know there was a name for it until recently posted by Crystal on July 22, 2000 at 09:55:22:

Dear Crystal,

Yes, the previous advice is good. Use a mouth guard. Furthermore, if your dentist has recently finished dental school, perhaps in the last ten years or has returned to school to study Bruxism then he should be able to do more for you than just give you a mouth guard.

My dentist who is thirty years of age is presently treating me of Bruxism. He has given me a mouth guard to wear. But I go for regular check-ups so that he can adjust the mouth guard. What this process does is to allow my jaw to return to its normal position by allowing for the teeth to slide across the mouth guard while sleeping to the point where the jaw muscles are most relaxed. (I only where the guard during my sleep.) Once this relaxed point is achieved, he will take another impression of the teeth and determine the areas on the teeth that need to be actually ground down by him. He says that the amount of grinding that he will have to do is very minimal much less than what I have already done to my teeth.
Does the grinding completely stop. Not necessarily, but it will be less frequent and hopefully less destructive. Once the muscles are allowed to return to the point where they are NOT in constant tension among themselves, the grinding will be alleviated.

Furthermore, from personal experience, attempt to reduce your stress level. When I student taught under a stern mentor, my dentist at that time saw that within six months of time I had significantly increased the damage to my teeth brom ginding at night and perhaps during the day.

Good Luck,
Sincerely,
Br. Luke

p.s. Oh yea, how will my dentist know when it is time to stop with the guard and make a new impression? When the teeth can completely rest and allign themselves on the mouth guard. He uses carbon paper to mark the spots. It is a neat process, but watch your pocketbook. Get a dentist who is willing to tell you about all of the possible treatments along with their costs.

Follow Ups:

• Re: Didn't know there was a name for it until recently Janie 7/26/00 (0)

---

Copyright ©1995-2004 Sleepnet.com, All rights reserved.