Clenching jaw at night - how to stop?

[FairyPenguin]

I go through periods when I wake up knowing I've been clenching my jaw whilst I sleep, with it really aching and tense. I've been using a nightly mouthguard from the dentist when this happens which relieves it a bit.

The dentist says I should wear the mouthguard nightly regardless, not just when I know I need it.

Is there anything I can do to try and prevent it happening in the first place?

DH and I have done this at times. DH uses his mouthguard now, I lost mine almost immediately

I suppose the obvious things - has anything changed recently as far as stress in your life goes? Would you be able to go to bed earlier and perhaps spend longer winding down, just reading in bed and relaxing?

I've no advice I'm afraid, but I'm watching with interest as I've been doing this for the past 6 weeks or so - no idea why - I've tried reading , drinking Horlicks, but nothing helps. It seems to be waking me up every bloody hour through the night too!!

I don't think my bedtime needs changing really (although perhaps less MNing on phone!).

I think it's when I'm anxious about something, even when I'm not consciously aware that I am. My DS started school last month and I haven't been worried about him, especially as I have an older DD so it's not new to me. But maybe I am actually anxious about how he's getting on subconsciously. There's nothing else obvious that I could be worried about.

I do have a long to-do list which I'm struggling to keep up with but that's nothing new.