Is There a Cure For Teeth
Has your dentist told you that you have bruxism?
Clenching or grinding your teeth at night is probably only going to get worse.
And lead to even more problem s than the symptoms you might be suffering from right now.
In this article I am going to give you all the info you need so you don’t have to spend hours searching the internet for it.
First let’s discuss the problem and why you need to solve it as fast as you can.
Then let’s discuss the possible solutions out there and the pros and cons of each.
By the time you finish reading this article, not only might you have a solution to your teeth grinding and clenching or bruxism but you will know more about the research and solutions than even your dentist.
Bruxism actually can be one of two different forms. It can be important for you to know which one you have, even though most of the professional literature and studies don’t differentiate between them. The symptoms and consequences of each are very different. They are clenching or grinding your teeth. Some people just clench their teeth and some people just grind their teeth.
Clenching the teeth puts tremendous pressure on your teeth. For many the clenching will be so great the teeth start to fracture and crack.If you were awake you might become aware of what you were doing and stop (this is not always true because some people continue to grind and clinch their teeth while awake). But since you are sleeping, and not conscious, the normal warning signals that say to your mind “STOP you are hurting yourself” just aren’t there. Some experts estimate that during the night you can apply ten times the normal pressure exerted when chewing.
What a lot of people don’t realize is that with all the grinding and clinching going on the muscles are getting a great work out. They are exercised so much that they start to become larger. This can cause deformity of the face.
Clenching of the muscles this hard at night can also cause inflammation and blockage of some salivary glands. Not only can inflammation interfere with the saliva glands but sometimes the muscle becomes overdeveloped which causes saliva to accumulate in the glands with no way out, causing swelling, pain and inflammation.
The extreme pressure of clenching and constant use with grinding can damage the temporomandibular joints. Bruxism is believed by most experts to be one of the leading causes of TMJ or temporomandibular disorders (TMDs). Besides causing chronic pain that can last years, a sufferer may wake up and be unable to open their mouth. The jaw can also suddenly dislocate during chewing. Sometimes a difficult surgery that may or may not work is required.
The research says “it is unrealistic to expect” to cure temporomandibular disorders once they start. “At best, we are only managing signs and symptoms” (Pertes & Attansio, 1992, pg 146) That is one reason it is so important to stop the clenching and grinding instead of some of the treatments that allow it to continue but not damage the teeth (like splints and mouth guards).
Clenching and the extreme pressure can sometimes put more pressure on one side than the other and cause “malocclusion” or a “bad bite”. This can also be true with grinding as it can wear out one side more than the other.
While clenching can crack and fracture teeth, grinding can literally “wear out” the teeth.
The teeth of some chronic “grinders” look like someone took a file and filed them down.
Another form of Bruxism is grinding the teeth. Grinding the teeth can wear them down to just stumps. It can wear them completely flat. In the beginning it can wear off the enamel which makes it easier for bacteria to cause cavities.
A lot of the time this leads to fillings, crowns, and root canals. Sometimes the teeth become so damaged you might have to have bridges, implants or even dentures.
As long as you keep clenching or grinding your teeth, the bruxism continues and the problem just gets worse.
The problem is even fixing your teeth won’t help. The bruxism can damage any repairs that are made.
Long term bruxism can even change the way you look in several different ways. First is the look of damaged and worn-out teeth. Also as the teeth are ground down they shorten which causes the entire look of the face to change and the person to look really old.
Another problem with bruxism is the clenching and grinding on the mercury fillings that a lot of people have. There is some research that shows higher levels of mercury in the blood of some people with bruxism and mercury fillings (Isacsson et al., 1997). Mercury can cause a whole host of health problems both mentally and physically.
What Causes Bruxism?
No one really knows exactly what causes people to clench or grind their teeth at night.
It is commonly believed to be related to how much stress and or anxiety the individual is experiencing.
Many dental professionals believe that emotional stress triggers, or anxiety exacerbatesbruxism.
Negative stress is bad for one's health, regardless of its effects onbruxism. It may be worth while therefore to try to reduce stress levels (with such things as hypnosis, changed lifestyle, or other relaxation techniques).
Trauma
In some cases,bruxismmay present itself shortly after dental procedures such as fillings, crowns, or bridges; after an injury to the mouth; or after a prolonged operation in or through the mouth. To be sure, at timesbruxismmay be caused by the psychological stress of the treatment or injury (and not by the injury itself).
Bruxism as a Side Effect ofDrugsand Medications
In some cases,bruxismmay be traceable to drugs. Smoking (Madrid et al., 1998) and alcohol (Hartmann, 1994) may cause, or at least exacerbate, the condition.
Antidepressant and antipsychotic medications may triggerbruxism. The effect of anti-depressants is still uncertain (Stein, VanGreunen, Niehaus, 1998). Still, clinicians and bruxers should bear in mind the risk that drugs or medications may induce or exacerbatebruxism.
If you have bruxism, which by now you know means you either clench or grind your teeth at night, you absolutely mush do something about it. If you don’t your teeth will be permanently destroyed.
But what should you do?
What is the best thing to do?
What Doesn’t Work ?
Splints or Mouth Guards
The most common treatment is for a dentist to make you a splint or mouth guard that you wear at night.
In the United States alone, some 3.6 million splints (aka nightguards, biteguards, occlusal splints, biteplates, removable appliances, or interocclusal orthopedic appliances ) are annually prescribed by dentists in an effort to combat bruxism (1.6 million splints), myofacial pain (0.9 million), and TMJ pain (1.1 million)--a $1 billion industry (Pierce et al., 1995).
Many researchers feel that the splint does not diminish bruxing behavior, in the long term, nor alleviates most symptoms and consequences. They insist, in fact, that the splint only provides a measure of protection for the teeth, and, in the case of grinders, a moderation of the sound. And even this is purchased at a price: the splint is uncomfortable to wear, some patients remove it during sleep, and it may negatively affect one's bite, cause tooth decay, and lead to degenerative joint disease (Messing, 1992, p. 438).
"Occlusal splints worn at night did not significantly reduce bruxing-clenching activity in bruxing subjects" (Kydd and Daly, 1985).
The most common complication of splint therapy is the creation of changes in the patient's occlusion" (Messing, 1991, p. 437). Another complication of splint therapy is decay under the splint, which may in turn cause caries and gum inflammation. Still another problem is severe degenerative joint disease (Messing, 438).
To sum up, the splint may help slow down the destruction of teeth and it may moderate the sounds of grinding. In some patients, it may bring about atemporaryreduction in bruxing, lowering it to about 50% of its former value.
This effect, though real, may be nothing more than the well-known placebo effect, or it could be ascribable to the fact that the nighttime introduction of just about anything into the mouth temporarily alleviates bruxism symptoms. In a few patients, the splint may produce long-lasting improvements, although we are far from being sure about this more moderate claim. In other cases, it may intensify bruxism.
Thus,
the splint may or not stop bruxism for a while, it partially protects the teeth, and it moderates grinding
sounds. For most patients, it accomplished little else. A patient may wear this uncomfortable appliance for years and years, perhaps risking an open bite where none existed before, and still destroy her teeth, still develop headaches, still change her appearance for the worse, still develop TMD.
Given these shortcomings, even the most enthusiastic advocates of splint therapy would have to concede that, at the very least, something else is required to treat the millions of chronic bruxers whose condition is getting worse despite faithfully wearing this appliance for years.
There is a major problem with doing that.
The splint does not stop you from clenching or grinding your teeth. All it does is put something between your teeth. You still end up clenching or grinding all night long.
Which means you are still going to have some of the major problems.
The muscles in your jaw are still going to be exercising all night. Which means they will still either grow and cause those problems. Or they will cause headaches as the muscles go into spasms. You will still have the problem of possible joint damage. Which means all of the possible TMJ problems.
Sleep Feedback
Sleep feedback uses some sort of a “sensing” device, either electrodes attached to the face or some sort of device in between the teeth.
When the sensing device detects muscle tension or teeth pressure it sets of some sort of alarm, either a sound or an electric shock to wake you up.
The vast majority of people will discontinue using a sleep feedback device. Sometimes they learn to ignore and sleep thru the alarm.
Pierce and Gale (1988) found that bruxing only decreased by about 50% during two weeks of biofeedback therapy, but that, following withdrawal of treatment, the condition returned right back to where it was before.
Piccione et al. (1982), to cite another example, found that "biofeedback does not appear to be effective in reducing nocturnal bruxing," probably because, over time, "subjects learned to ignore the tone and to maintain sleep."
The only real solution is to somehow get your unconscious mind to stop grinding or clenching at night. You have to stop the behavior somehow.
What does work?
There are two ways to answer this question.
Ifbruxismoccurs only sporadically and intermittently, especially in children, waiting may provide the best strategy.
You chould try and find a highly skilled and trained hypnotherapist that hopefully has specific training in Hypnodontia.
While even the psychological community does not really understand hypnosis, it has been used successfully for over a hundred years.
No one really understands how or why it works. But the facts are in certain cases it definitely does work.
Reseach
Hypnosis is probably the only way to solve the problem at it’s root cause. The real problem is the unconscious mind is for some reason causing you to clench or grind your teeth at night. The solution seems obvious. It is to get your unconscious mind to stop doing that.
The problem you will most likely run into is most hypnotherapists are not that skilled or trained, they are hard to find and expensive.
Even a Psychologist “trained” is hypnosis has usually had only a weekend of training.
You need to find a Hypnotherapist that has had thousands of hours of training and experience. There are very few of them.
The other way is to listen to a skilled Hypnodontia specialist recordings.
This is often the easiest and cheapest solution.
By listening to an experienced Hypnotherapists recording of a session you may solve the problem instantly.
Obviously this is not quite as good as finding an experienced therapist and having them conduct an in depth case history. They might even be able to use regression to find the exact root cause and eliminate it.
But often just listening to specific specially worded suggestions while you are asleep will cause your unconscious to stop bruxing.
In fact you might be able to stop clenching and grinding your teeth tonight.
And it is inexpensive. A regular session with a trained Hypnotherapist if you can find one will often cost you at least $125 an hour. Often the intake and case history and actual hypnotic session can take 4 to 5 hours minimum.
But that is often better than a splint. Mouthguards and splints can often cost $600 or more and as we know they don’t “solve” the problem. You will need to keep buying new ones as the old ones wear out.
Right now though you can order a hypnosis recording for only $19.95! You would think that it would cost more than that, but my interest is not in making a fortune off each person that orders my CD's.
My interest is in making sure that no matter who you are, if you suffer from Bruxing, you will be able to afford the cure.
Think about this for a moment. With just the click of your mouse you will soon have a cure to a problem you, and your dentist, thouht you would never cure.
Don't spend another night or day in pain from Bruxing. Order right now!
Exercise Quinn (1995) and many others suggest isokinetic and stretching exercises of the mandible. Such exercises may or may not help alleviate bruxism, and they may perhaps be used to complement other approaches, but it seems unlikely that they could ever be used as the sole therapeutic approach. Evidence that this approach is effective: non-existent.
Drugs Both the stress and the brain malfunction etiological theories give at times rise to the use of anti-anxiety agents, muscle relaxers, and other drugs. Most authorities, however, feel that, at best, drugs in use now are of limited value in the treatment of the great majority of chronic bruxers, and that they often involve, moreover, untoward side effects. Evidence that this approach is effective: non-existent.
Disclosure: By law only a doctor can diagnose or treat a medical condition. Obviously this web page and this information on it is not meant to diagnose or treat you or any medical condition. Heck we have no idea who you are or what your problem is or even if you have one.
This web page and everything on it is intended for information only. And because of attorneys and the fact we don’t want to be sued, you shouldn’t rely on or even believe that anything on here is true. It could all be made up and fictiscious. Everything written here is for entertainment and information only. If you have a medical problem you should really get advice and pay lots of money to a medical doctor. In fact according to the research you should probably contact at least 7 to 10 doctors, dentists, and other professionals because "the average TM disorder patient has been seen by at least seven physicians, dentists, psychologists, or other health professionals. Of these patients, 7 out of ten have been incompletely diagnosed or misdiagnosed" (Goldman, 1992, p. 215)
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