Bruxism and Jaw Clenching...

[jessed03]

Anyone have any experience of getting rid this?

A life time of high stress has created this habit, and even now, whenever tired, or in a bad mood, or even generally, I found my jaw is like a clamp! It seems to come now even in a relaxed state, it's become such an ingrained habit. Maybe there are some stretches or techniques for undoing it?

I'm suffering bad sleep, headaches and fatigue from this annoying little habit!!

[AsktheAges]

I had (feels amazing to be able to use past tense!) a severe teeth-grinding habit.

i) Get a really tough nightguard (look up "mouthguard" on Wikipedia). This is key. This will protect you in the night. You will wake up with much less tension in your neck and jaw. You have free dental care in the UK, right?

ii) Don't be afraid to wear the nightguard during the day when you're at home, especially when you're doing activities that involve physical or mental strain. Many of those activities will become much more pleasant to do.

iii) Invest in chewing gum. If you can't wear a nightguard, chew gum whenever it's acceptable to do so. You'll look a teenager but it will make a huge difference.

iv) When none of these can work, you can keep your tongue in between your teeth. Otherwise, you can fold it back and touch the back of your mouth with it. These will make it harder to grind or clench your teeth together.

Just some stuff that worked for me anyway. YMMV.

[biceps72]

buy a cheap plastic mouth guard that American football players use. They are cheap-- you have to get them warm then put it in your mouth and bite down to make the mould; use it sleeping or napping! It will work!! Soon your mind will turn off when you sleep!!

[AsktheAges]

My dentist told me not to use those (if those are similar to what I had when I did Tae Kwon Do). Athletic mouth guards keep your teeth in one place, as I understand it, whereas dental nightguards allow your teeth to slide off their 'clenched' position as soon as they start to bite down.

[jessed03]

Thanks for the replies! Good to know people are overcoming it. I'd done a few google searches and it was just of people unable to overcome the habit.

AtA; The tongue trick is really helping me out in the day time. My jaw is far less tight my the end of the day.

I'll have to try and sort something out for the night now.

How long was it, before you noticed you had released the habit?

[AsktheAges]

I'm glad that helped.

I wouldn't say that I've overcome it 100% but I'm much better. It probably took about a year from the time when I started really tackling the issue?