Grinding Teeth (AHH, OMG!)

[One-Way]

I can't believe this.. I'm ashamed to say, I officially grind my teeth.

My little cousin always does it, and it always freaked me out. It's scary. But about a month ago, I had a dream where my mouth was closed shut, and I was biting down REALLY hard, and it felt like I couldn't open my mouth. It felt like if I opened my mouth, my teeth would shatter. I've had that same dream about twice before. So, the night after, I told my family, and my sister said, "Oh my God, so that's why you were grinding your teeth!" I couldn't believe it. After I grind, I have severe headaches the next night. I also figured out everytime I have those dreams, I'm grinding. Which scares me! Two nights ago, I had a dream where I was biting down, this time only on my right side, and it felt like my back tooth was shattering. I even touched it in my sleep to check. The dreams are horrifying.

Everyone says it's because of stress, but what can I do to stop it? I have retainers that I still have from when I had braces, so every night I grind, I get scared and I put them on the next night, so I won't grind. But that's annoying. What can I do??

[karoaper]

Re: Grinding Teeth (AHH, OMG!)

I think grinding teeth is tied to stress and some underlying anxiety. Try to relax at night. Figure out what's on your mind. Definitely wear a mouth guard so you don't wear out your teeth. Do you wake up with a sore jaw the nights you grind your teeth? If you do, then it's pretty bad and you should see someone about. Otherwise I wouldn't worry about. In fact I wouldn't worry in any case, because that could induce more teeth grinding.

[One-Way]

Re: Grinding Teeth (AHH, OMG!)

My mouth/jaw hurts the NIGHT after. Not the day after, about 24 hours after - lol.

But I don't wanna grind! I gotta get rid of it!

[TJ]

Re: Grinding Teeth (AHH, OMG!)

I think you just need to relax and get some stress out, try fighting, or if not beat the crap out of your pillow before you get some sleep, but on a serious note, yeah just try to get relaxed and calm, maybe try meditating for a bit before you sleep and by that i mean just sit there and get your thoughts together and put yourself in a calm state of mind, get your worries out of your head and so forth, relax yourself. good luck

[One-Way]

Re: Grinding Teeth (AHH, OMG!)

Sitting there and thinking might make it worse. When I lay down to sleep, I just think, and that's not good because I think of my problems. But yeah, I'll try to calm down before I sleep. Thanks.