Anybody have bruxism (teeth-grinding)?

I'm fairly certain I have what is called bruxism, which means someone who grinds his/her teeth in his/her sleep. I've read that everyone has it to some degree, but mine is to the degree where I awaken my girlfriend sometimes. She says she pats me on the face until I stop.

I've had this since I was little, and I remember when I shared a room with my sister who said that it was loud enough to wake her up. The solution at the time was to make me wear some sort of mouth-piece (night-guard), which I'm not willing to do again.

I'm just wondering if anyone else suffers/has suffered from this, and what you have done to cope/get rid of it entirely. It's really annoying how I have no control over it whatsoever.

Duderino -- "Obviously you're not a golfer"

Even if you didn't get that quote from the Big Lebowski -- keep reading. I grind my teeth at night, and I suffer from the same thing.

I suppose it is stress related for me, but what really matters is the consequences of grinding, and how I can slow it down and save my limited-edition grill. Seriously, we all get one set of teeth and getting drilled and root-canaled is awful.

I visited the dentist earlier this month, and he said he could find groove patterns indicative of grinding -- and that several of my teeth in the back were actually worn down. He also asked me if I ever have pain near my ear where my jaw connects to my skull, and I do! For a while now, especially when I shave up near my sideburns, I'd have this annoying sharp pain.

Anyways, he recommended a mouth guard, I said no way and that was that.

Then I started waking up in the middle of the night because my teeth were grinding against my new fillings, and it hurt me enough to wake up.

I went back to the dentist, and he gave me what's called an "NTI". I was skeptical at first (and I've only worn it now for 2 days), but I've been able to sleep fine with it. I even woke up a few times because I was trying to grind against the NTI and the weird (not painful) sensation woke me up.

The cool part is that I can sleep with it, my jaw doesn't hurt, and I feel like I'll be saving my teeth down the line.

Ask your dentist about an NTI. Downside is they are about $500 bucks and you can't drink beer (or white russians) while it's in use.

Good luck!

Reconsider the mouthguard... it will save your teeth.

I do that too, my dentist told me so. There is nothing you can do to stop it except like your gf does, wake you up when you do it.

The only solution is wearing a mouthguard which really is a pain. Mine lasted maybe a week before I threw it in the medicine cabinet. I kept choking on it in my sleep.

The end result though is having really crappy teeth.

The decision is yours.

Yes, I have it, and by 40 I had worn all the enamel off my teeth and needed a whole set of crowns. When you are little you know to look out for cavities, when you are older you hear of gum disease, but this one really blindsided me. If you can take a mouthguard use one, if not try really hard to stop. My own thought (and you can guess how well it worked) was to try sleeping biting gently on a towel or something. Didn't work for me, but it might be worth a try.

I do not, but a friend of mine does.

Try some relaxation methods (massage, yoga, meditation). You're probably stressed out. If you don't use the mouth guard you'll be spending thousands on dental work in the future. At least try to wear it every other night and you can stave off the effects longer.

WEAR A MOUTHGUARD!!! I just had a root canal on my front tooth becuase of this (probably will need to do the other front tooth soon too). Now the teeth will be dead and most likely break, with or without a crown. I went through 48 hours of labor and then a cesarean section. I would rather experience the same childbirth again than have another root canal. Yikes! Do yourself a favor and protect your teeth...there is no other solution than wearing a mouthguard. Sorry.