Bruxism - grinding of teeth

[Raventor]

On the rare occasion I manage to sleep for more than a few minutes at a time, my darling husband tells me that I sound like I'm sawing wood ! I grind my teeth so much when I do stay asleep that I wake up with the most amazing jaw and earache. I have been taught to be aware of when my teeth are clenching when I'm awake and make a concerted effort to stop it. Does anyone else have this problem? Is there a link maybe ?

[Hidden]

You can get a product that will do in a pinch at Walmart in the toothbrush isle

It's a mouthpiece that isn't perfect or ideal but it works rather well. It's worth

it to save your teeth. Some have lost teeth due to cracking them off. Some

people complain of drooling worse than a bloodhound male dog but it does

work. 2 people in my extended family wear them because losing teeth wasn't

fun for them and they had headaches all the time.

The dentist can make you an expensive fit for you appliance... it will be custom made

to fit your teeth, your mouth perfectly. =)

Are you thinking that there is some tension involved with that and rls? I

haven't heard of that but I will go to Dr. B's rlshelp.org site to

see what I can find. It's worth it to find out. Did you mention the two to the DR?

[Pete-1 in reply to Hidden]

Hello Yikes,

My dentist tells me that these devices to stop the damage to teeth through Bruxism can be destroyed after 1 night's use.

I have read that problems with Bruxism may yield to hypnotherapy. Since this condition springs from the sub-conscious mind as a response to some form of stress or unhappiness and hypnotherapy is able to gain access to that sub-conscious then this method stands a better chance of success, Also using hypnotherapy is an attempt at a cure rather than just some palliative thing.

[Raventor]

Thank you, my cousin suffers from both rls/plmd and Bruxism too. Just wondered if it was coincidence.

I've spent a not so small fortune on shields for my teeth but they don't stay in, I rip them out as soon as I nod off - not a conscious decision !

[newman1]

There have been a couple of studies done on the relationship between RLS and bruxism.

neurology.org/cgi/content/m...

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/770...

[Raventor in reply to newman1]

Wow! Thank you newman1

[Hidden in reply to newman1]

Thank you newman1 ..you saved me a lot of work. ( =

[Hidden in reply to newman1]

interesting, i dont have bruxism, but i have to listen to someone how has it bad !! well have to show it to her

[Hidden]

I'm not surprised!

I've had problems with this for years and nothing helps.

I visit the dentist 2 times/year trying to prevent damages but every time there is something to repair, and the costs are very high.

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

What does your dentist suggest? Very curious..me!

[Hidden]

He suggest a splint ( is it the right name for a plastic thing formed from my teeth?) But I cannot sleep with that in my mouth, it squeezes ad put me in some panic. We have tried with booth a hard ad a soft one, but I cant stand them.

[Hidden]

I have had 2 bite guards for my bruxism. I got them through my NHS Dentist but still had to pay about £80 each time. They do save your teeth. When I first had one, I used to find it under my pillow! Although I used to grind my teeth a lot, I never bit through the bite guard.

Bruxism is caused by stress!

[Hidden]

I am positive about this...100% sure.. some medications do cause it..

My rheumy told me. I asked for my cousin.. stress can make that happen

as well.

[thedragon]

Mrsmop....I had one through the Nhs for the same problem . It worked brilliantly and it was free!!! ( it was a few years ago. ) It was pretty tough and lasted ages until the dog finally ate it and when i went for a new one, i was supposed to pay but never actually got charged!

[Hidden]

Here in Sweden there is a dentist doing a research project if Sifrol can help people ( not RLS-sufferer) who grind their theet.

[Hidden]

Sweedish, I take the highest dose that my neuro will prescribe for rls.. 1mg.

(he could technically go up to 3mg but won't) and I do not grind my teeth.

What I can tell you is that my sister that just passed away earlier this month

was questioning if she had rls..she went on a trial of Sifrol for that and she

was a teeth grinder.. (severely) It didn't stop her from cracking her teeth from

the force that she used while sleeping. She would wake up because of the

noise that she made while grinding her teeth.. She quit taking the Sifrol about

20 weeks before she died of a heart condition..she tried it for 30 days and

it didn't help her legs much nor did it help with her teeth grinding at all.

Now this is interesting.. that you brought this up. The doctor prescribed

atenolol for the purpose of anxiety (it's primarily a blood pressure drug)

and the teeth grinding stopped, her headaches went away- But- the

atenolol made her feel "weird" so she quit after two weeks...died 18 weeks

later at age 40. ( That's the medication that may have contributed??)

My point is to be careful making a decision if you want to treat it with medication.

I am by no means saying that my sister died from medication... but it did come

up as a possibility that it may have contributed.. and secondly Sifrol (pramipexole)

has some pretty serious side effects - some people report feeling ill when first

starting up on it.. (even later, some do) I wouldn't wish for anyone to take

the pills unless they absolutely must. Taking it for teeth grinding sounds like

taking a 22 to shoot tweety bird.. hmm... I take it that the dentist has no personal

experience with Sifrol (pramipexole)

Heading out.. everyone have a great rest of the weekend... =)

[Hidden]

I am really really sorry to hear about your sister!!

It must be absolutely terrible to even think that the drugs took her life.

I stopped taking Sifrol after 13 years due to very very bad side effects ( I rather take morphine) and I have written to the dentist telling her that she could ask all the RLS-patients in Sweden about their experience with Sifrol and with grinding teeth. The scaring thing is that the goverment have given her quite a big ammount of money to do this research.

I just found a new soft silicon thing for grinding teeth so I'll by it and try it as soon as I can afford it.

[Hidden]

Swedish... It is being considered to be a contribution to her death..

She drank a bit of alcohol the night before and then she drank a energy

drink the morning of.. She wasn't a problem drinker, they were celebrating

something the night before.. She disliked taking pills..

I understand your urgency in wanting to solve the grinding teeth.. It is expensive

once a tooth cracks.. I hope that the soft silicon works.. the ones made in the

dental office cost upwards of 500 US dollars.. that's quite expensive, I think.