My DD (14) has always ground her teeth, since she was tiny.
SHe is really wearing away the enamel on her teeth - quite severely.
We were under the care of an orthodontist,asshe had severe over crowding as a young child, but this has corrected itself. Her teeth are fairly straight.
We need to tackle the bruxism before she destroys her teeth - consensus is that if we dont deal with this now, she will need crowns by her mid 20s and probably end up with bridge work etc.
SO we have a number of treatment options.
- a night guard, used permanently, replaced regularly and not a comfy or attractive option.
- Braces. An unproven solution which may pull her teeth back into line and correct the cause of the grinding. This is a very expensive option (no NHS funding) at 3.6k, plus she will have to wear train tracks for 18 months, then an inner retainer wire for a year, then a retainer for 3 years. SO a looooooong route for an unproven solution.
- Hypnosis. To reduce the tension in her jaw and to wake her as she starts grinding.
Does anyone have any experience or advice on this? I really dont want to put her through years of torture with braces if its not going to work, im willing to try other things if she will use them, just need some additional input fromsomeone without financial incentive!
Oh and on that point, DS1 will definately need braces, also unfunded, and his is unavoidable. so we are looking at 7k worth of braces in the next 2 years, so I really do need to make the right decision.
Thanks!