clenching teeth and slamming them together!

Message

#1 Post by **letigrelady** » Fri Jan 01, 2010 5:11 am

Has anyone else had this??

I am 2 months in to my 6 month smile braces.

At night I've started to clench my teeth in my sleep - I wake up with my teeth clenched very tightly. This morning I woke myslef up by slamming my teeth together - very strange.

I have a wire cutting into my cheek at the mo - wire changed on Tuesday so trying to stick with it - Im wondering if this might be making me clench my teeth because my mouth hurts.

Any tips or has anyone else found that they do/did this?

Thank you and Happy New Year!

#2 Post by **TumbleDryLow** » Fri Jan 01, 2010 9:13 am

Yes! I used to clench at night all the time and I used to inadvertently clash my teeth together too. Sometimes I would even crash them together when talking---it was really annoying and painful. I don't clench anymore and the weird crashing together thing is now a rare event too. The only thing I can think of is that these were both related to my teeth moving around so much. My bite as well as the relationship of my front teeth were always changing and sometimes uncomfortable. It felt like every week I had to relearn how to use my teeth based on their new positions with each other. Now that my teeth aren't moving so much, and my bite is almost perfect, these problems have subsided for me. They may be temporary for you as well. I would mention the clenching to your ortho though if it continues. It's really bad to do that long term.

#3 Post by **evilnel** » Fri Jan 01, 2010 1:53 pm

Do you have bite ramps or turbos at all? I have a bite blocker and I have been clenching recently too. I'm not sure what can be done about this, but I'd ask your ortho.

#4 Post by **gokix** » Fri Jan 01, 2010 8:27 pm

That doesn't sound very pleasant. As for the wire poking your cheek, try putting some dental wax on where the wire sticks out. I find that wax helps a ton.