To ask for your help with jaw clenching/grinding

[CloudsCloudsClouds]

I have TMD and all my life I’ve had a habit of clenching my jaw. I used to grind my teeth but through steely determination I’ve managed to stop that. Jaw clenching OTOH... I do it in my sleep and it wakes me up throughout the night.

I had a custom-made guard from the dentist but it only makes it worse, and from what I’ve read a lot of dentists don’t like prescribing them anymore for this reason.

Aside from the soreness and aching throughout the day, my masseter muscles are enlarged and make my face look rounder than it is

Reading with interest as I'm a jaw clencher. Mostly in my sleep but I find myself doing it throughout the day when I'm at work and I have to actively think about not clenching my jaw. It's almost like a compulsion. However, I'm on medication and one of the side effects is jaw clenching/teeth grinding and I've definitely got worse since starting the meds. I'm hoping it will wear off but my face/jaw/teeth are so sore from doing it and it's driving me mad.

cecily
I'm finding it difficult to keep the guard clean, despite brushing it each morning it still smells blush My dentist is adamant that I should only use water on it, but I've tried those denture tabs and the guard has turned yellow already. How do you guys stop your guard from smelling?

I brush mine with toothpaste :)

Mine has improved since I quit alcohol. It hasn't completely gone, but it is much better.

Mine was awful to the point they were offering me a splint.
I started doing these exercises and still do when I can feel the tension. Game changer.

www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/317871.php

Another jaw clencher and grinder here. I’ve woken up biting my tongue before now, very painful.

To answer a PP, Retainer Brite for keeping your mouth guard clean. I get mine online.

Magnesium citrate powder before bed.
Start with half a teaspoon and work up to two. It acts as a muscle relaxant.
Natural Calm is the only one I can find that dissolves well and therefore seems to absorb better. Take before bed..

Cecily I use denture tabs on mine or soak in water with a bit of mouthwash added. It stinks otherwise!

Honestly could have written this thread myself! Yesterday was one of the worst days I've had with it, felt like my jaw was going to explode and the pain was radiating up into my ear and head. I've had a bad cold and cough and I'm certain it's the non stop coughing, snuffling that made it so bad yesterday. Woke up today and it's fine again thankgod. I've noticed my jaw has got rounder but didn't even think it was because of that, but now I know. The mouth guard did nothing for me and due to having a molar removed my teeth shifted so it didn't fit but I wasnt willing to pay £200 for another one, might save up for botox this time instead!

@CloudsCloudsClouds

Please could you tell me about the Botox. Where do they inject and how many injections did you have? Did it affect you in any other way? (Speech, chewing?)

My dentist says that most of this is stress related and usually will pass eventually.

I've heard other people get muscle relaxants from their GP

I have stopped clenching and grinding in my sleep since I gave up office work and also nights out drinking. I have a more relaxed life now. But I do have neck pain. I didn't know there is a connection. My jaw clicks really loudly but no pain at the moment.

F

Jaw clencher here but I seem to clench it over to one side so will wake up with my jaw out of line which has been known to last up to 5 days 😩

When it is out of line I can’t open my mouth fully, in pain and have awful headaches too, no power in my jaw and find it difficult to eat. My dentists suggestion was to maybe stick to soft food from now on!! I did tell her that as I am still fairly young I don’t think a lifetime of soft food is the answer so she referred me to maxfax.

I got a mouth guard and have been wearing it for a week now. My jaw isn’t going out of line but I am having more jaw pain since wearing it.

Since separating from H 8 months ago, the jaw clenching does seem to have reduced so I definitely think it’s stress related, but it’s still painful in a daily basis. Interesting what you say about your face looking rounder, I’d noticed this as well but thought it was to do with age but maybe not.

Also, to add - the dental nurse at the maxfax clinic told me not to wash the guard with toothpaste but to use soap and water in it. And to keep it in a very small amount of water when not in use.

Not helpful if you are doing it in your sleep, but during the day, try to train yourself to keep your tongue "pressed" against the roof of your mouth, also do this as you are falling asleep.
Obviously it sounds like you will still need botix or similar anyway, but it may help you reduce how long you have your jaw clenched for a bit.

I have a retainer and was told to wash it with anti bacterial hand soap and a child's toothbrush. I'm assuming they're similar to mouth guards. I've had it for 6 years now and just use that then maybe retainer bright once every 6 months or so and have no problems at all with smell.

I'm a clencher (and a physio). My mouth guard sounds completely different to other people's - it is soft and rubbery, and only for my lower teeth. I can clean it with toothpaste because I don't care that it sends it opaque - but if you want it to stay clear, you use liquid soap. Steradent once or twice a week.

The exercise that really helped me was:
touch the tip of your tongue to the roof of your mouth. Then take the tip of your tongue back as far as you can without losing contact with the roof of your mouth. Once there, open your mouth to the point where your tongue almost loses contact with the back of the mouth. Hold for 20-30 seconds. Repeat twice, two times a day.

Go gently - I overdid it at first and was in agony on the masseters/head.

Also, if you can see a craniosacral therapist (some physios, osteopaths etc do it), a cranial base release will often help, as will other gentle releases.

I don't clench so much at all now (used to wake myself up cos my head would feel it was going to explode). But if I leave off my mouth guard for more than one night, it starts up again (I stopped my exercises ages ago cos the problem is so much better).

Wow, lots of responses. I’m sorry so many people are also suffering with this.

@TellIt

If you clench your teeth and feel your jaw with your fingers, you’ll feel the muscles. That’s where they inject. I think I had two injections each side. On a pain scale of 1-10 it was about a 2. It didn’t affect my speech at all and I don’t remember any problems with chewing. When I walked out of the dentist’s office you wouldn’t have known I’d had anything done. It takes a few weeks to take effect and that’s also when I noticed my face shape changing quite dramatically. It was like two corners had been taken off. When I clenched my teeth there was barely anything there. When I clench them now the muscles are huge. It helped me for about a year, then the pain started to return.

Unfortunately six months or so after the injections, my relationship fell apart and I discovered an affair. The last 18 months have been some of the most stressful of my life so I’ve probably been clenching my jaw more than ever. I’m hoping that if I can get the stress sorted and learn some jaw relaxation techniques then I won’t need the Botox injections once they bring the muscles down.

Chiropractor?

Thanks clouds. Interesting. I'm wondering whether to try Botox.

Would a normal Botox dr who does it for aesthetics be able to do this? Or do I need a different type of Botox dr? (I'd only ever have botox injected by a dr!)

Some aestheticians do it, usually under ‘masseter injections’ or ‘medical botox’. I think I trust the lady who did mine more as she’s a dentist though. Unless they actually specify it I wouldn’t let them jab at me. I think anyone can offer Botox so be careful. It’s definitely worth a try though. If I weren’t so short of cash at the moment I’d have booked an appointment for tomorrow morning!

Have broken 2 teeth doing this, and clench in the day as well. I wear a mouthguard at night which protects my teeth and during the day try to do exercises but I still find myself doing it.

A fellow sufferer here. In fact only today my dentist took xrays & showed me where my teeth are flat & losing their ridges- due to grinding. I don’t wear my guard anymore but do neck exercises & try not to clench & raise my shoulders when working on the laptop. I do this as I get more & more stressed. I went to ENT & maxfax clinic, had a camera up my nose & down my throat. Convinced something was dreadfully wrong. One lovely consultant recommended rubbing voltorol on jaw & neck. I’ve given up caffeine that has helped & I constantly check my posture. Also seeing a osteopath helped quite a lot.

Another fellow sufferer here! And the nightguard didn't really help me.

I had no idea that Botox could help and may look into this. If it's under £300 and lasts a year, that sounds reasonable, especially when my last broken molar cost me more than that in dentist fees.

Would my GP be able to refer me privately to a doctor that does the treatment? I'd feel more comfortable having the treatments from a doctor who specialises in the therapeutic, rather than aesthetic, use of Botox.

It sounds remarkably cheap though. DSS had Botox injections for hyperhidrosis, and that was £500 a time more than 10 years ago.

As a bruxism sufferer for years with very damaged teeth and daily pain in my neck, shoulders, back and head I cna say I have tried almost everything.

First onto the Mouth guard - clean with toothpaste and brush, also soak using a denture cleaner. The soft ones discolour very easily but don’t worry, it is fine just looks grim.

I used to see a chiropractor (using the ‘activator’ technique) where a stick was basically prodded lightly into my back. It didn’t hurt but the next day I felt like I had whiplash! Two days later I was pain free for up to a month.
I stopped going as it was so expensive and not dealing with the real cause of the problem.

I’ve had Botox but it didn’t work, plus I’ve read it can lead to bone damage so don’t want to keep it going.

I have had hypnosis which was the most successful thing for me but I need to keep going back (one session every month or so would keep me from clenching) and my fabulous hypnotherapist only works school hours and term time and I’m a teacher so I could not continue seeing her. I could try another therapist but I liked her as she was also a GP and not particularly “woo.”

Finally I have been given drugs, Firstly, diazepam but it didn’t seem to do much and the GP wouldn’t continue to prescribe it. Now the GP gives me Amitriptyline which does seem to work a bit. I take 10mg before I go to bed but the doctor did say I could have 2 or 3 times as much as night if I felt the need. Sometimes it doesn’t touch me and I wake up in agony across my back, neck, shoulders and head. On those days I rely on lots of painkillers, cold rubs and neck stretches.

A hard massage does help, regular stretches of the neck and back and strong painkillers also work but if someone could stop me clenching (yes I also have over-developed jaw muscles!) every time I am asleep it would totally transform my life.

I got very mindful about it & have almost entirely stopped.
Sorry that's a shit unhelpful answer but it's the truth of how I got better. After decades of being a night-time grinder & all.
I consciously stop & relax my face a lot during the day, so it's a habit now. I was just trying to avoid wrinkles, initially!