I think I've done it most of my life; it wasn't really an issue. I could see that that my lower incisors had abnormal wear, and I could even see wear on a tooth in my upper jaw that had to have occurred before orthodontics.

It's bothering me now. I wake up and feel an ache in my upper jaw. I talked to my dentist about it and he showed me a set of mouth guards for both upper and lower teeth. It had what he called a "ramp" build into the upper guard, back side of the guard, between the central incisors. It was $700. I told him I would think about it. He said he wears it himself.

Is this common? Have you sought a solution? Are any of the much less expensive alternatives sold at places like WalMart effective?

I grind/clench my teeth when I sleep. My dentist said it's stress-related. So I wear a mouth guard at night.

My mouth guard is just one piece, and it only goes over the front 6 teeth on the top. Looks similar to this:


It's enough to hold my jaw just a little bit open. This not only keeps my teeth from rubbing against each other, but also prevents the jaw muscles from fully contracting. (Try clenching your jaw, then try it with your thumb in-between your front teeth; notice that the latter is much less strain on your jaw muscles.)

I want to say that mine was ~$200 total to have my dentist take the mold and custom make the guard, but insurance covered most of it.

I've worn it for about 3 years now, and it makes a world of difference. I used to have similar symptoms as you: sore jaw and abnormal wear on my teeth. This has solved all of those issues. No more waking up sore, and I won't be wearing down or cracking my teeth prematurely.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: RogueJSK,

Dad grinds his teeth, has for decades. He just goes to WallyWorld and gets the 99¢ mouth guards from the sporting goods section. He replaces them as needed.

I'm supposed to be wearing one too, but I can't sleep with the damned thing in so I take my chances. I've tried a few kinds of OTC mouth guards including the above (which actually provided the best results) over the years and no dice. I can't afford one through my dentist.

I've been using these. You can use them about a week or so.

https://www.amazon.com/Placker...tector/dp/B003GDKH9C

You could try the cheap generic ones if that's all you can afford, but I can say that the custom guard is really nice. It snaps in place on my teeth, much like "Invisalign" invisible braces. So I can cough, drink, yawn, and even talk (with a bit of a lisp), and it stays in place. I barely know it's there.

Generic mouthpieces won't be able to do that, and will likely be more bulky/noticeable, so they may interfere with your sleep. They're also much less durable, apparently. So the long term cost may be the same, or even more, since you're constantly having to buy more.

I'd talk to your dentist to see if there's a way to get a discount. Or call around to other dentists. As I said, it's been several years, but I want to say that mine was only ~$200 total, and I think I only paid ~$30 out of pocket after insurance, IIRC.

I dont grind but I clench my jaw. Dentist said mouth guard will help but they are around $400. Insurance will not cover it. However I have cracked two molars with in 2 years, one needing a root canal. I cant say for sure the clenching weakened the tooth but in sure it doesnt help. I would think the insurance would see this and say hmm $300 mouth guard vs. $1000 root canal. But who am I.

Dentist said do not get a cheapy soft sport mouth guard as it will only train your jaw to grind/clench harder.

I could come up with the money, I was just taken aback by the $700 price. The "ramp" I spoke of is apparently an important part of the solution, it forces your jaw muscles to relax. I wondered about the ability to comfortably close my mouth with it in; I'd hate to pay $700 and find it makes me slobber on my pillow.

BTW, right now we don't have dental insurance

Been using a $1 sports mouth guard from Mao Mart for the past few years. Works fine, I definitely sleep better with it.

I've been a grinder all my life & it's cost me some significant dental bills, headaches, & neck/jaw pain. I first decided to do something about it years ago & my dentist told me to get a sleep guard at Wal-Mart. I did so & just keep using theirs when I wear one out. He was specific to tell me to get the one designed for sleep, not for sports. You put it hot water & bite it to mold it. Twenty bucks, easy peasy. What's not to like?

I have a 7th level black belt in bruxism. It's pretty much destroyed my teeth. For the last 10 years I've been wearing a custom guard made by my dentist. If I forget to wear it my jaw and teeth are sore for days.

Already had to put in four crowns. Will need two more, probably next year. Once you've ground down the enamel it's just a matter of time.

Get a professionally made guard, wear it every night. You may also find that you need to wear it during the day, if periods of stress cause grinding.

I do it unconsciously, especially during long stints of coding (I get hyper focused). It's caused me thousands of dollars of damage, and I'll likely need implants when I'm older.

quote:

Originally posted by fwbulldog:
I have a 7th level black belt in bruxism. It's pretty much destroyed my teeth. For the last 10 years I've been wearing a custom guard made by my dentist. If I forget to wear it my jaw and teeth are sore for days.

Already had to put in four crowns. Will need two more, probably next year. Once you've ground down the enamel it's just a matter of time.

Get a professionally made guard, wear it every night. You may also find that you need to wear it during the day, if periods of stress cause grinding.

I do it unconsciously, especially during long stints of coding (I get hyper focused). It's caused me thousands of dollars of damage, and I'll likely need implants when I'm older.

This is me. My teeth have always been my weak point. I've had thousands of dollars of dental work done--crowns, root canals, etc.

Funny you should bring up the clinching during "long stints of coding." I began to notice when playing guitar that I was clinching when working on difficult (for me) riffs.

I actually think I'm more of a clincher than a grinder (my wife has never said she heard me grinding), but the effect is ultimately about the same.

Oddly enough, I think the problem with bruxism is obvious now. Because of my career, we've moved around the West several times. I've had several dentists over the years--some very good, some not so good. This one I have now is the first to bring up bruxism with me. I think that's incredible. The soreness of teeth and jaw is relatively recent, but other signs were there.

I am like FWbulldog. My dentist made me a low jaw protector that is two layers, one hard and one soft. I should have bought one of these 20+ years ago. 95% of people grind under stress.

If you have had orthodontia work done, there may be a problem where the lower teeth do not mate correctly with the upper. If the bite is off, the body forces the mandible forward or backward to compensate, and the TMJ is then not working correctly. This terribly exacerbates the problem as the body is constantly trying to find the sweet spot where the TMJ is working correctly and the teeth mate well.

I have been grinding my teeth in my sleep for over sixty years. I have had the expensive mouth guards made by dentists. I tried the cheap sports mouth guards for around a dollar. They work better for me than the expensive ones from the dentist. I sleep better with the cheap soft ones. I wear through them every few months and replace them.

quote:

My dentist made me a low jaw protector that is two layers, one hard and one soft.

This.

I thought "bruxism" was wanting to get Belgium out of the EU.

I clench and wake up with sore jaw, teeth. I just got a custom mouth guard made through my dentist. For lower teeth. Has helped a lot. Wish I had got it long time ago. Best 362.00 I've spent lately.

quote:

Originally posted by sjtill:
I thought "bruxism" was wanting to get Belgium out of the EU.

That's be Bruxit. Or maybe Belxit.

My name is Mark and I grind my teeth.
Prior to having a custom mouth piece fabricated, I cracked the top two front teeth.
No more problems after using the mouthpiece.
My dentist cast a mold of my upper jaw and had a mouth guard made.
Upper jaw only.
Cost was under $200.

I used to wake up by the sound my teeth made when I grind them in my sleep. It felt like I was going to break my teeth. As someone else said, I think mine was from stress also.

The doctor fitted me with a mouthpiece. I think it was about $400 five years ago. But the cheap method people are bringing up may be worth a try because that's what my expensive mouthpiece looked like. All mine was was that it was molded to my teeth. It might be worth a try before getting bit for $700 to fix your bite.

During periods of stress I've used the cheap ones for sports. You boil it in water then fit ir to your teeth. Don't forget to bite togeter lightle for good occlusion.