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Hello. I'm wondering if it's possible to have a bruxing habit without knowing it. My dentist swears that I grind my teeth at night, but I'm not so sure. I've never 'caught' myself doing it, and my boyfriend (a very light sleeper) hasn't noticed it either.
I think what the dentist sees is the wear on my teeth from having a misaligned bite (I'm constantly shifting my jaw around trying to find a comfortable position for my teeth.) I do wear a nightguard, because even if I don't grind at night, my teeth need all the protection they can get.
I'm just trying to figure out how important it is to continue with the nightguard during/after treatment.
I just got off the phone with my ortho about this.....
My boyfriend has never noticed me grinding my teeth at night. I only started really noticing when i got my braces. I have never had a sore mouth in the morning, I'm pretty sure i have been doing this for quite some time. I actually woke myself up last night because of it. I was sleeping when all of a sudden i heard a loud *POP* i sat straight up then rushed to the bathroom. Luckly nothing on my braces broke.
My ortho suggested i go in for a mouth guard, just to be safe. He said that clenching and grinding causes damage to my teeth and possibly my braces, which i figured from last night. Good luck.
I think you can definately clench or grind your teeth without noticing. Even while you're awake, but definately at night. It doesn't take much of a clench to put a lot of pressure on your teeth and jaw joint. Those muscles are incredibly strong. Maybe someone can come up with the number, but you put a lot of pounds of pressure on your jaw when you clench.
Anyway, I'm a clencher and grinder, and while no one has noticed it in my sleep (not even myself-- but I wake up and my jaw hurts and the muscles around them are sore and tired), I've had people remind me to stop while I was awake. I'd be clenching my jaw and not notice because I've been doing it so long, but some one else could notice by the tightened muscles in my jaw and by my temple.
Sometimes wearing a guard can make you realize you do it, because it might feel funny when you clench. Really draws attention to it. That way you can train yourself not to.
Definitely possible to grind and clench your teeth without knowing it. Having a misaligned bite apparently leads to teeth grinding, at least according to my dentist.
My husband clenches and chomps his teeth repeatedly when he's falling asleep... he doesn't have a clue except for when I tell him about it, and I think it is due to his cross bite. He had braces as a teenager and apparently his orthodontist left him with a "functional crossbite" whatever that means... He has no interest in going through braces again though...
I am told that I don't normally grind my teeth at night, but I have occasionally woken up to the sound of my own grinding a few times.... so my husband is probably just a heavy sleeper...
I almost destroyed my teeth grinding. Never thought a think of it. As for waking up and feeling not quite right, unless you know what "not quite right" is, you don't know you're not quite right.
I also didn't know I had TMJ. Had nasty headaches without a clue why. Had MRIs and CT scans to try to find the cause. Went to a new dentist who put me in a splint and I had an amazing recovery for about a year and a half. Then my TMJ started to shift. That's when I started exploring getting wired.
Can you grain and not know it? I did. Hopefully when this is all over grinding won't be as bad (my bite is a disaster) and my TMJ will remain a non issue.
Mike
I wore braces (this time) for 1294 days or 3 years, 6 months and 17 days.
But who's counting?
Jaw Surgery June 1, 2009
Thanks for praying for me and thinking happy thoughts.
Oh yeah, as iBorg mentioned, headaches can also be a symptom. Plus clenching and grinding works muscles all down your neck and can feel like a sore tightness in your neck and upper back (yeah, sometimes I can go a little crazy with the clenching).
I grind almost constantly. Dentists say I haven't done any damage to my teeth, so I must not be doing it hard... but I grind in my sleep, and my jaw and neck muscles, etc. aren't ever sore when I wake up. I catch myself grinding throughout the day, so I make sure to chew gum to cushion it a bit. It's more of a stress thing for me. I guess I'm going to have to try other ways of stopping it once I get braced... *sigh* I'm betting the nightguard is definitely being of help for you, though. Cheers.
I have a terrible habit of clenching my jaw, without even noticing it while I'm doing it. Its when I go to talk or eat, that I realise my jaw was just clenched really tight.
I didn't even know I grind my teeth in my sleep, it was pointed out to me originally by my mom. I thought I was long since out of that habit, but then my boyfriend started waking me up at night to get me to stop. The sound didn't bother him, but he doesn't want me to hurt my teeth or jaw.
I get really bad headaches and a sore neck, went through xrays and everything for it. My doctor figured it was the muscles in my neck putting a strain on things, resulting in the headaches.
But after talking to my dentist and ortho, they believe they can correct it. They decided to hold off on the nightguard, since I'm getting braces on right away and if they molded it now, it wouldn't fit in a week.
I have always clenched my teeth at night and since I have recently had my braces put on and my bite is shifting more it has gotten worse and I have one tooth that feels loose and kinda squishy in mouth I dont know if that is normal or if I should have someone look at it.
I got my bite plate about six weeks sooner than originally planned to help with my grinding. The original plan was to wear my bottom splint (my splint was actually two pieces; a top and a bottom) until I got my lower braces but I had a problem with my teeth getting hung up on the lower splint.
If you are grinding and a bite plate is in your future, you may want your ortho to go ahead and fit it.
Mike
I wore braces (this time) for 1294 days or 3 years, 6 months and 17 days.
But who's counting?
Jaw Surgery June 1, 2009
Thanks for praying for me and thinking happy thoughts.
My fiance grinds his teeth - he had done so much damage before I met him that his canines have no points on them at all! I told him he was grinding, otherwise he would have never known.
I appreciate all the responses. You helped snap me out of denial! I now admit that I probably DO grind my teeth. (You think that explains the chronic headaches and neck pain?!)
I'll keep wearing the nightguard, and I'll hope that having my horrendous bite corrected will help solve the problem. (I still believe that I grind, not so much from stress, but because I can't find a comfortable resting place for my jaw. During the day, I notice that I constantly bite down on my tongue to cushion the uncomfortable alignment of my teeth.)
I have been a clencher and grinder for a long time though I didn't realize it till a couple of years ago. I have seen many different docs for chronic headaches ( bad enough I would miss work ). And no one could figure it out. Just pumped me full of pain pills and sent me home. When I pursued braces my ortho checked for TMJ problems and had me wear an appliance for about a year and a half. What a difference that made, headaches all but disappeared, jaw pain tottally gone. So to answer your last question, yes clenching can cause other side effects, including headaches. Good luck to you. Sometimes people do not understand what a chronic headache can do to you.
(You think that explains the chronic headaches and neck pain?!) 