Hallelujah! The dentist announced that (in his august opinion) I do NOT need the two (2!!!) new crowns I expected to have to pay for.
It’s a freaking miracle. I went in there braced to be told I need at least one root canal and crown, or (I figured) two.
But no. He thinks the attention-getting phenomena (biting down on a seed or a piece of crunchy salt will lift you right out of your chair!) are caused by my endless jaw-clenching. He says I need to remember to wear the mouth guard at night, and I should probably use it any time I’m working with a keyboard.
Yeah. He reports that keyboarding is one of the activities most directly related to bruxism.
Are you surprised? 😀
Anyway, that’s two grand that is not about to leap out of my pocket and into Dr. D’s.
By the way, if you grind or clench, I learned something I hadn’t heard before: you can ease the night-time bruxing — when you grid or clench in your sleep — by applying warm packs to the sides of your jaw (where the joint is, in front of the ear) and then just sort of gently stretching the muscles by opening and closing and by moving the jaw back and forth. The dental wonder-technician said this helps more than you would expect.
I said I thought a glass of wine would do the trick. She laughed and said, “That, too!”
Image: DepositPhotos, © Krisdog.
Glad to hear you didn’t need any expensive dental procedures this time. The budget is safe (for now!).
I may have to try that warm pack option. Despite not having any pain from nighttime clenching, my dentist identified two small cavities in my molars that needed filling a few months ago. The cavities formed because my molars are cracked from top to bottom, he said from clenching/grinding at night.
I have a mouth guard that was made for me at my old dentist in Chicago right after all my orthodontia was completed, so it fits my mouth. But I hadn’t been wearing it at night since I was using just my retainers and didn’t feel any discomfort that led me to believe I was still clenching. So, I’ve gone back to using the mouth guard since I had those cavities filled.
Just getting the fillings was mentally traumatic for me. I haven’t had any cavities or fillings since my adult teeth emerged over 40 years ago. I have pretty strong teeth, but obviously they aren’t strong enough to resist pounds of pressure every night.