Solution to clenching my jaw at night?

[lunadali]

I have been suffering with terrible jaw, neck, shoulder and back pain, all due to the fact that I clench my jaw at night! I have a build up on my 2 back molars, they are the only teeth that touch each other. My overbite and braces makes me drool so I think subconsiously I have to force my lips to close at night to keep from drooling: thus the clenched jaw. I don't know but the pain is awful. Any suggestions?

[Snowglobe32]

Dr. Oz discussed this issue on his show last night. Maybe you can check out his show's webpage and replay the segment. One suggestion I remember it to put warm washcloths on each side of your face. It is supposed to loosen up and relax the joints. It was an interesting segment, sorry I can't remember it all.

[ashesgap]

My ortho told me that if I had really bad pain from clenching we could talk about getting a muscle relaxer to take at night. You might want to discuss this, if it's really bad.

[lyphta]

I second what Snowglobe said. I have some pretty annoying jaw issues too and the best way to relieve it is to put like a warm hot patch on it. The other thing I do is massage the joints like you would your temples for a headache. Helps a bit.

For your neck and shoulder pain, the thing that works the best for me is putting ointment on it. We have this Chinese oil that we use that relaxes my muscles there. The direct translation is White Flower Oil - it's a clear oil. But you can probably use stuff like IcyHot, Bengay, or even Thermacare heat patches.

[clangjr]

My wife clenches her teeth and sometimes grinds them. The other morning she woke up and said her teeth were really sore. She just had braces put on last week. Could this be from the clenching/grinding?

[peckabel]

My wife clenches her teeth and sometimes grinds them. The other morning she woke up and said her teeth were really sore. She just had braces put on last week. Could this be from the clenching/grinding?

Most likely if her jaw is sore and you know she grinds it will be from the grinding, but having braces makes your teeth sore. its probably a combination of both for her..

I never use to grind and clench but two years ago I started and they believe its because of my open bite. I highly recommend anyone having pain from this should see their dentist about getting a night splint/mouthguard. It helped me so much. I use to wake up about 4 or 5 times a night thinking I had a weak bladder and needed to go to the toilet, but as soon as I got the splint I started sleeping through the night, so it must have been waking me up.
My TMJ pain got quite bad and was causing me severe migraines, once I had the splint it improved. Also grinding is not good for your teeth long term.
Funny enough it was my chiropractor the picked up on my symptoms and sent me to a dentist because my neck and jaw muscles were so tight.
I also know people who have night guards who only wear them when they know they have been griding, so they dont wear them 365 days of the year

[peckabel]

I have been suffering with terrible jaw, neck, shoulder and back pain, all due to the fact that I clench my jaw at night! I have a build up on my 2 back molars, they are the only teeth that touch each other.

Do you have an open bite?

[farmboy]

I had some clenching issues come up a while ago and my orthodontist told me to take three tablets of ibuprofen before I went to bed. She said that's the prescription dose. At that strength it acts as a slight muscle relaxant, lessening the clenching.

I did that until my teeth shifted again (and therefore didn't feel like clenching quite so much!). It worked.

Good luck with whatever you do.

[lunadali]

well I will definitely try all of the suggestions, thanks so much! I broke off one of my build ups today while flossing, I wonder if it had gotten loose from clenching at night. Anyway, will try meditation, self massage, and i have purchased stress relief pills that I will take before bed. when I get my next lig change I will ask my dentist what I could do, a muscle relaxant would be awesome. I do wake up often and thought that was my small bladder, but wonder if I would sleep through the night for once if I took something to relax.