Do you grind your teeth?

By Dr Bertrand Stuart DDS
DO you suffer from chronic headache, migraines, neck ache or backache? Do you wake up with tightness in your jaw or face muscles? Does your jaw lock in the open or closed position? Do you have teeth that are worn or chipped for no apparent reason? Do you have sensitive teeth? Do you have gum recession, root notching (grooves at the gum line)?
If your answer to one of these questions is “YES”, then you may be suffering from night time tooth grinding or bruxism.
Bruxism is the technical term for harmful clenching and grinding of the teeth. People who suffer from bruxism unintentionally bite down too hard at inappropriate times or rub their teeth together. In most cases, it is done while they are sleeping. The fact is that the only time teeth should come together is during swallowing. Any other time this occurs, damage to the teeth, muscles of chewing or the Tempero-Mandibular Joint (TMJ) is inevitable. Teeth are designed to chew on food not on each other.
Tooth grinding and clenching is a much more common problem than most people realise. We all grind our teeth to some extent, though most of us are not aware of it because the grinding and clenching is done in our sleep. Mild bruxism may not require treatment, but moderate to severe,bruxism is cumulative and can cause a variety of problems. People with sleep bruxism are often unaware of it until complications develop. Therefore it is important to know the signs of and symptoms of teeth grinding and seek help if you suspect that you might have bruxism.
The most common treatment is to wear an acrylic or plastic mouth-guard. Stock ones can be bought at a good pharmacy, while customised ones can be made by your dentist. They all serve the same basic function. They prevent teeth from coming together and wear prematurely. It is tooth protective only. Unfortunately, mouth-guards do not address clenching and may even increase it. Clenching and grinding causes muscle hyperactivity and results in muscle soreness, muscle spasms and muscle pain.Continued clenching and grinding takes a toll on your jaw joints (TMJ) resulting in arthritis, disk deformation and derangement which cause pain, clicking, popping, jaw locking in the open or closed position as well as other TMJ problems.
While it may be recommended as the first and fastest method to arrest the damage of bruxism, obviously, there are problems with wearing mouth-guards. Many people find that wearing them at night is uncomfortable and embarrassing. Often the mouth guards are spit out during sleep. Remember, most mouth-guards (except those worn by boxers and people who practise contact sports), only protect teeth from teethwear. In addition, mouth guards are sometimes hard to keep as clean as they should be. They build up calculus (tartar) and can harbour bacteria and yeast. Over time mouth guards can get mucky and worn out, and may need replacement, depending on your grinding intensity.
Fortunately, a new FDA approved device is now available to treat teeth grinding with biofeedback. This is the real cure. The device is called Grindcare. Now biofeedback is a well-documented physiological principle using gentle electric impulses to induce local relaxation of specific muscles. Biofeedback is the reason for Grindcare’s efficient and lasting treatment of teeth grinding and clenching, without the need for wearing night-guards. Biofeedback makes your jaws relax. Grindcare simply teaches you to stop grinding your teeth. Every time you grind your teeth, the biofeedback device stimulates your jaw muscles with a brief tension impulse, the so-called biofeedback. Biofeedback makes your jaw muscles relax and prevents you from grinding your teeth.
Now, I know readers will ask, “Doc, please explain what is it and where can I get one?” Now, Grindcare 3.0 is an innovative wireless device, similar in size to an i-pod. All you do is place (stick) the small sensor about one inch below the ear lobe, (on your chewing muscle called the masseter), and then you activate the device following the easy instructions on the screen of the unit. Within 40 seconds, the treatment will start. In the morning you can see how many times during the night that Grindcare has prevented you from grinding and clenching your teeth and creating tension in your jaw muscles. If you log on to Dotmed, you can purchase the device online for about US$50 or just over G$10,000.