Metal Mouth Message Board

Hi everyone,
Well, I'm about 3 weeks into having upper and lower linguals.
Things mostly going well, but I'm finding as soon as I go to bed, I start clenching and grinding my teeth against the braces....
I thought initially it might stop after a few days, but it hasn't yet.
Is this common? Would I be likely to need a mouth guard at night or something?
Can be quite painful, as I end up biting on my tongue for long periods overnight too....

Any feedback is much appreciated!
Tanya

You have probably been a clencher/grinder all along but didnt notice it. Now that your teeth are more sore/sensitive from the braces you are noticing it more. In my experience most clenchers do not know they are clenching.

Thanks for your reply drrick,
Wow, now that you say that, it does make sense- one of my other issues has been TMJ disorder.... I think maybe I'm noticing the grind more because my teeth weren't actually hitting each other before, but now that they're grinding against my lingual brackets, I can actually notice.
Is there anything that helps stop the habit of doing this? Do you think I should look into getting a mouth guard to wear at night?

Do you happen to know what type of lingual braces you have?
IBraces?
Ormco Generation7
Other?

Hi drrick, the brand is stb, not sure if they are the stb light or different version

I would just tell your doc about the girnding and see if he/she feels it is a csomething that needs to be addressed at this point in time.