jaw clenching

I do this when I am stressed and really need to get a guard as it's agony at the moment.

Mot sure if it's the same thing but my dentist said I needed a "plate" as my clenching is causing my jaw to move out of line. The plate will act to push the jaw into the correct position. I'm really not sure of the medics of it all. The plate was going to be made for me and was about £380 (ouch!), is that what you have? I've put off doing it as it wasn't a major problem but it is now so as soon as I have the money I'll get one.

I think it's call TMJ or something along those lines. I have found that doing mouth exercises really helps. I do this before going to bed, so really just opening and closing my mouth and massaging my jaw. I also try and really relax before sleeping but that's because mine is very much linked to stress.

It's horrible though isn't it? Such an awful pain!

Hi poochanna, mine didn't cost that much, it was about £40, so it's maybe not the same thing. It's just a little plastic thing (like sports people wear, but not as thick) that is moulded to fit my front 5 teeth. It's barely noticeable. I'm not stressed but I do often think that it's linked to a fear of spiders getting into my mouth while I'm asleep! ? The pain is really bad and constant, daily. Would like to explore this before I get my hospital appointment because I don't want to waste their time if it's actually a dental thing. Thanks for the reply, hope you get yours sorted.

I used to get this a lot. It was causing horrendous head aches. I had amitriptyline to take, to help me relax while asleep. They work well, but I tended to feel groggy in the morning

L
xx

There's lots of great stuff if you google (and not scary stuff as there normally is) ?

I think it's quite amazing the amount of pain it causes. My pain is usually in my main jaw muscle and I can feel a knot but it also affects the whole of the right side of my face with pains in my neck and headaches. I was convinced i had something sinister when it first started as I was sure that nothing minor could cause that much pain. My dentist is a fellow sufferer so she's been great.

Did your dentist mention about it pushing your jaw out of line? I think that's the main worry as it leads to future issues with your teeth. That's why she said I need this plate and not just a guard.

Thanks for all the replies! I think I'm going to look into this a bit more while waiting for my hospital appointment to come through. Will get another appointment with the dentist this week. Poochanna, that is my worry that my jaw could be getting misaligned because I seem to be sticking my bottom teeth out over the top of my top ones. I have an overbite when I was a kid and got all sorts of work done to fix it, so don't really want to undo all that work! Thanks all for the replies, will let you know how I get on.