Hacker News Reader

Comment by robocat | Hacker News Reader

For anybody that grinds their teeth, investigate getting a splint before you reach this stage.

https://www.coredental.com.au/splints-dentist-recommend-one/

They give me very bad tooth pain and cause my teeth to move (I couldn't close my mouth properly after I used one for a couple weeks as 2 teeth would end up touching that didn't before). Luckily it reverted quickly but I stopped using it.

I mainly used it because sometimes I woke up hitting my teeth together really hard (it hurt a lot) but it was mainly due to stress. I really try to avoid that now, if I fail I may go back to using it :(

These lozenges will be great to get. I have pretty strong enamel though as they give all kids regular fluoride treatments. It really helped for me. I didn't have a cavity until the age of 43.

> cause my teeth to move

This is why you want one fitted across all your teeth by a dentist. And made out of a solid material so it continues to fit the same way rather than sharper teeth pushing down further. That way it sits properly and balances all of the tooth-tooth forces.

Having said all that, mine developed a hairline fracture and eventually split in two, but actually sits a bit better as two pieces until I get a new one made in a month.

That's not for everyone. I tried it for many months, and it made my condition worse and worse. Expensive appliance molded by my dentist, he even re molded when I complained it rocked a little, and then again gave me a different tech.

All for nothing. Splint, or mouth guard in North America, caused me to develop daytime bruxism and it moved my teeth in such a way that my back teeth didn't touch firmly, which my brain wanted to resolve by biting harder.

If it's my enamel or my TMJ, I guess I picked my TMJ. Grinding with the splint made my jaw hurt more.

I struggle with this. However I don't know what to do. I couldn't wear a splint, because I have a very sensitive gag reflex. I can almost start vomiting just by brushing me teeths...

Soft mouth guards as are used for contact sports?

You dip them in hot water and then bite to form them, so they aren’t near your gag reflex.

Yeah. I think the issue might be more a psychological one, I gag very easily

See if your dentist can do a smaller splint on your front teeth, if your teeth haven't already been misaligned due to the bruxism this shouldn't cause anything to shift.

Or jaw surgery. Splints (especially mouthguards) can force you to mouthbreathe and cause sleep apnea.

This is my problem right now. My dentist told me my ground-down molars are some of the worst he's ever seen, but my splint makes me snore terribly (I wear it anyway). Not sure I'm up for jaw surgery though!

Reply on news.ycombinator.com