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The Year of Grinding Teeth

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Re: The Year of Grinding Teeth

#31

Post by chubot »

01100011 wrote: post #10

FYI there may be an association between bruxism and sleep apnea: https://www.sleepfoundation.org/sleep-apnea/link-between-sle... I have both. I wear a very tough nightguard whenever I sleep. I tried a few 'comfort' guards but just ground through them. Finally my dentist got me a very hard plastic guard and it has lasted over 5 years. I'm naturally tense and I don't think I'll fix my bruxism until I can stop worrying…

Absolutely, I learned about this from my dentist and I started to see it everywhere. Seems like half the people I know have one or both problems. In a lot of cases it's a chronic thing that unfolds over 10 or 20 years, somewhat below the threshold of doctor's visits.

But it can absolutely cause your life to be way harder than it needs to be.

Also, doctors don't talk to dentists. That is a big problem.

See the 2018 book "Jaws" and 2020 book "Breath" for more info. Here are three links to previous HN stories here, including the book recommendations:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24247066

Re: The Year of Grinding Teeth

#32

Post by chubot »

11235813213455 wrote: post #2

Something I never paid attention to is that the natural/ideal resting position of your jaw is that you teeth never touch, and your tongue is touching your upper palate just behind front teeth. I had issues with grinding teeth when younger. But at some point I adopted that position unconsciously. This is a bit like resting breathing rate, the lower the better, but that's controlled completely unconsciously. Your lifes…

Yup there's actually a kind of therapy called myofunctional therapy that fixes your "tongue posture"! Intro videos here:

https://www.youtube.com/user/sarahkh12

Tongue posture is a real thing, which was news to me! The therapy fixed my breathing, it was miraculous! An improper tongue position can inhibit nose breathing. If the tongue doesn't seal the airway, you will have a turbulent and inefficient breath --- 10,000 times a day.

Re: The Year of Grinding Teeth

#33

Post by chubot »

kowlo wrote: post #17

I'm interested in this topic... my list - grinding teeth in sleep - nightly/morningly sleep paralysis - not being able to breath through nose sleep is hard...

For nose breathing, myofunctional therapy fixed it for me:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25911557

It wasn't cheap, but it only took a few weeks, after years of no results! I tried Breathe Right strips and many more things.

The problem is that everyone is a snowflake, so you have to try a bunch of different things.

It was a brand new feeling being able to exercise with my mouth closed, and now sleep with my mouth closed.

For others who aren't sure about it, try holding a popsicle stick between your sealed lips and do stuff around the nose. If you feel out of breath and want to drop the stick, then you're a mouth breather.

Re: The Year of Grinding Teeth

#34

Post by girvo »

pgt wrote: post #3
11235813213455 wrote: post #2

Something I never paid attention to is that the natural/ideal resting position of your jaw is that you teeth never touch, and your tongue is touching your upper palate just behind front teeth. I had issues with grinding teeth when younger. But at some point I adopted that position unconsciously. This is a bit like resting breathing rate, the lower the better, but that's controlled completely unconsciously. Your lifes…

Curious if that tongue-palate trick would also reduce bruxism during stimulant use.

Yeah it helps. Magnesium taken beforehand helps too, at least in my experience.

Re: The Year of Grinding Teeth

#35

Post by fouc »

auganov wrote: post #16

Masseter muscle botox gets surprisingly little attention for this and derivative issues. Not too expensive. Very simple walk-in procedure, don't need consults. Zero effort. Not permanent (both a con and a pro), but some say their problem doesn't come back even after it wears off. Pretty much all other interventions (besides self-awareness/lifestyle) are way more involved and don't have a great record either way. Noth…

That's a great idea, a temporary solution to kick the habit.

Re: The Year of Grinding Teeth

#36

Post by DrAwdeOccarim »

outime wrote: post #25
stosto88 wrote: post #24

I had TMJ issues my whole life. Jaw started clicking at 8 and 20 years later I developed chronic pain. For the past 3 years I have seen Dr. after Dr. and every doctor dismissed my pain and gave me generic stretching/exercise. I finally found a TMJ expert who create mouth inserts to extend your jaw forward for several months, followed by physical therapy and then a lip tie/tongue tie procedure. The first day I wore my…

I don’t have this problem but I know of someone who does and would probably like to hear about these inserts. Do they have some specific name?

They are probably referring to Mandibular Advancement Devices. I had the same kind of thing, but more of an acute event precipitated by stressful work, late night partying/drinking, and years of sleep apnea. The device was magic. The morning after the first night wearing it felt like heaven.

I _highly_ recommend calling around and finding a "sleep dentist" who will bill the device as a medical device (not a dental device). This is the only way to get American health insurance to pay for it (they are ~$5k). The down-side is you can only use the device for ~10 years before you get permanent forward lower jaw displacement. But those 10 years allowed me to get everything in order and gracefully switch to a nasal pillow CPAP (which is also heaven once you get the settings right).

If you live in the Boston area or LA area, I can recommend a fantastic sleep dentist that specializes in these devices. PM me.

Re: The Year of Grinding Teeth

#37

Post by danielscrubs »

castlecrasher2 wrote: post #4
11235813213455 wrote: post #2

Something I never paid attention to is that the natural/ideal resting position of your jaw is that you teeth never touch, and your tongue is touching your upper palate just behind front teeth. I had issues with grinding teeth when younger. But at some point I adopted that position unconsciously. This is a bit like resting breathing rate, the lower the better, but that's controlled completely unconsciously. Your lifes…

I changed my resting tooth/jaw position recently, too, and it's made a big difference. I used to feel more stressed out in the mornings, and I was sure it was because of jaw clenching I would do at night which is now largely gone. And this is going to sound weird, but I've taken it even further by buying some baby chew toys off Amazon and chewing on them for maybe an hour a day. The benefits I've seen since starting…

I’m usually sleeping in a fetal position which immediately makes me grind my teeth. Straightening in bed (both breast out and head straight ) helps a lot.

Re: The Year of Grinding Teeth

#38

Post by feralimal »

I can recommend surgical tape over the mouth. This forces nose breathing. For some reason it also means you don't grind teeth.

I highly recommend trying this, you sleep much better. Apart from surgical tape there is bespoke nose breathing tape, but this is more expensive.

Re: The Year of Grinding Teeth

#39

Post by Ennis »

graeme wrote: post #6

I asked about bruxism last year and got extensive replies. This may be of use to someone reading: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23665164 I did not solve mine, though it is signficiantly better managed. I got an improved night guard that isn’t causing jaw misalignment, did some physiotherapy of the jaw and exercises to improve masseter joint junction, and used the sleepguard bruxism monitor so I can see when I’…

Do you know how the dog reduced your grinding?

Re: The Year of Grinding Teeth

#40

Post by Loughla »

01100011 wrote: post #30
markdown wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is there medication (maybe a mild sedative) you can take that prevents bruxism for a night?

I've heard people recommend magnesium but I don't think it will help unless you're deficient, and even then the effect will be small.

Not sure about that, but magnesium and ashwaganda were recommended to me for insomnia by a friend. They didn't do anything for me for my teeth grinding. Not sure about the insomnia, as I still had problems falling asleep, but -

They did give me unbelievably vivid, amazing, lucid dreams. I was in full control of my dreams, and aware of that fact that I was dreaming. I don't know if my sleep quality was better, or I was just happier that I had a fantastically creative output for my brain, but I really did feel better for the two months I took that mix.

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