Grind Me a Symphony Tonight

September 25, 2007 9:02 PM

My SO's constant night-time teeth grinding is driving me up the wall! I must have woken up 5 or 6 times last night with the noise, for the third night in a row. I know you can get mouth guards for this problem, but he hasn't seen a dentist in years, and we aren't rolling in cash. Can anyone recommend (cheap) solutions/ advice? He needs his teeth to last, and I need my sleep.
posted by gerls to health & fitness (25 comments total)

Has he tried a sports guard, or the OTC Doctor's Nightguard?
posted by kellyblah at 9:08 PM on September 25, 2007

10.95
posted by fake at 9:08 PM on September 25, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

I'm not sure how he would feel about wearing a mouthguard.

Does anyone know any other less invasive options/ options that don't involve a bit of plastic he'll likely lose/ forget? (sorry honey!)
posted by gerls at 9:11 PM on September 25, 2007

Um you can just get them at the chemist (Drugstore? Whatever?) For like $4? $8? Sports mouth guards... same thing.
(Ok slight difference, not enough for the difference in price though! And the BS of having one made!!)
posted by mu~ha~ha~ha~har at 9:13 PM on September 25, 2007

Earplugs?
posted by mu~ha~ha~ha~har at 9:15 PM on September 25, 2007

Does anyone know any other less invasive options/ options that don't involve a bit of plastic he'll likely lose/ forget? (sorry honey!)

Nope. Keep it on the nightstand, how's it gonna get lost? He forgets it, shake him and make him put it in. This is like the Occam's Razor of slutions right now until you can afford serious dental/orthodontic investigation.
posted by tristeza at 9:32 PM on September 25, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

Nevermind waking you up, teeth grinding can cause terribly expensive repairs - tens of thousands of dollars even. Have him google images of teeth grinding... that should help put him in the mindset that *something* needs to be done.
posted by whatisish at 9:32 PM on September 25, 2007

Hate to say it, but there aren't many options besides a mouth guard. The drugstore variety aren't that bad imo. After a year or so of using one I went ahead and had the dentist-fit, custom-molded job made up and I barely notice it anymore.

It's a pretty important issue to deal with. I spent hundreds replacing fillings that I cracked in my sleep, and my father lost all of his teeth in his 50's from a lifetime of grinding. It's a hassle to get used to, but the alternatives are considerably worse than a poor night's sleep.
posted by EmptyK at 9:39 PM on September 25, 2007

Hrm.

I know he is in awe of the Hive so I will show him this thread :)
posted by gerls at 10:36 PM on September 25, 2007

IANAD, but I'd just add that if, as you say, he needs his teeth to last, then he should see a dentist with at least annual regularity. Unless there's some work to be done it's not that expensive; if there is work to be done, well, dental problems don't resolve themselves, nor do they get cheaper over time. Better the cleaning and filling today than the root canal tomorrow.

But yeah, get a generic mouthguard from the drugstore for the immediate problem.
posted by mumkin at 11:15 PM on September 25, 2007

The nightguard linked above is what I would do if I had that problem. It creates a custom fit and is cheap enough to replace if you have to. And, seriously, what's to lose? He's not going to walk around the house with it in his mouth, or carry it in his wallet.

I can't think of anything less invasive than wearing a guard. the fact is, something has to stop his teeth from grinding. There are only 2 choices: stop it from happening at all (stress management? a hot tub? back rubs?) or put something physical between them.

I used to grind my teeth all the time, to the point I woke myself up. I have stopped doing it, and I don't really know why. But if i ever start again, I would try a guard.
posted by The Deej at 11:17 PM on September 25, 2007

Pay attention to how he feels after trying the generic guards. Because they are thicker than the custom ones, they sometimes cause stronger jaw clenching and subsequent headaches.

He might want to try exercising more / earlier in the day, no caffeine after noon, and no eating within 5 hours of going to sleep.
posted by BrotherCaine at 11:22 PM on September 25, 2007

I think it's worth a dentist visit. Years ago I started grinding my teeth so badly I was causing myself jaw pain. Went on for months. One visit to the dentist fixed it permanently.
posted by aguy at 4:24 AM on September 26, 2007

i use this night guard at night.

it's actually pretty important--once the enamel on his teeth is gone, it's gone, and those teeth are going to eventually decay and have to go. i know it only seems like an annoyance now, but it will become a huge problem later in life.
posted by thinkingwoman at 4:29 AM on September 26, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

About the mouthguard -- my SO actually likes his. Says it makes him feel "at home". So don't be afraid to try it...
posted by wyzewoman at 4:33 AM on September 26, 2007

Here are a couple other threads, both in favor of nightguards. I provide them here because they have other links you might find useful. The cheapest I've found is a dollar each at Dick's or someplace, once upon a time. (The first and the second.)
posted by booth at 6:34 AM on September 26, 2007

I posted a similar question, though I was fairly sure my teeth-grinding was stress related. For some reason, taking a multivitamin right before bed, as well as adopting some of the calm-down solutions other users proposed, really seemed to help.
posted by occhiblu at 6:58 AM on September 26, 2007 [3 favorites has favorites]

Also, check out your local university dental school (if you have one). Many provide lower cost dental care for those who can't afford the full bill.
posted by jdfan at 7:10 AM on September 26, 2007

re: vitamins before bed; do they have calcium? I have heard of bruxism being helped by calcium taken shortly before bed, but thought it was placebo... interesting data point, thank you!
posted by kellyblah at 7:18 AM on September 26, 2007

Please urge him to go to a dentist, even if you have to cut back somewhere else.

My brother stopped going to the dentist after he got out of college (i.e., when my mother stopped forcing him), and didn't go again for almost twenty years. After about 10, he started to lose a lot of teeth, and by 50, he had to have the few remaining ones pulled and have full dentures. It's much less expensive in the long run to take care of tooth problems sooner rather than later (something that starts out as a small cavity if put off can turn into something that needs a crown, etc.). Also, the grinding will wear his teeth down, as others have said, and can cause TMJ, etc.
posted by la petite marie at 7:28 AM on September 26, 2007

Well, teeth grinding is pretty bad for your teeth. Does he get a lot of headaches? TMJ? These will all be helped by a PROFESSIONAL bite guard, molded exactly to his mouth by a dentist.

Go down to the drugstore and buy a cheapy mouth guard for now. It will help with the grinding.

But start stashing some money for the dentist away, because he might need it sooner rather than later.
posted by misanthropicsarah at 8:18 AM on September 26, 2007

re: vitamins before bed; do they have calcium?

Yes, though I think what I read had recommended magnesium as being helpful, and in the thread I linked, someone mentioned B-vitamins as helping.

So I figured the multivitamin covered whatever might actually help, plus a big dose of the placebo effect. :-)
posted by occhiblu at 8:44 AM on September 26, 2007

Another nudge towards going to a dentist. Most offer payment plans if you ask. My teeth grinding has resulted in multiple root canals and crowns and cracked teeth totaling into the several thousands. All of this could have been avoided with a nightguard (that I now have) that costs only a few hundred to have a dentist make (much better than the drugstore variety). Please have him go.
posted by FlyByDay at 10:26 AM on September 26, 2007

He should look into holistic stress-management techniques. And I cut my mouthguard ($40 at my dentist including the molds) into three so I could just put in the back pieces over the last 3-4 molars and didn't have to tolerate the awkward front bit pushing out my lip.
posted by loiseau at 11:03 AM on September 26, 2007

My wife has been using a night guard for a few years. It's made a huge difference in her life.

She sleeps better, and the headaches and jaw pain she used to experience during the day have almost completely disappeared. Also, she used to frequently break or chip teeth while eating, and since starting to use the night guard, that has stopped.

She originally had a custom-fit night guard which got lost at some point, but she replaced it with a $10 one from the drugstore, and that has worked almost as well.
posted by Artifice_Eternity at 12:37 PM on September 26, 2007