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It wouldn’t be a surprise if you are trying to find a way to stop grinding your teeth. This isn’t a rare condition because at least 20% of adults experience it at night, not to mention the hundreds of adolescents and kids who have the problem too. Also, many others have had to deal with it during the day. Since bruxism can damage or wear out the teeth, you would do well to look for an appropriate solution.

Progressive Relaxation

Stress is one outstanding cause of bruxism. When a person is under a lot of stress, the muscles of the jaw can tighten up for long periods of time. You can find a remedy for this in the technique of progressive muscle relaxation. An individual who has a problem with grinding of teeth simply has to think and perform slow muscle loosening. This means clenching and unclenching your jaw in turns and consciously keeping your jaws unclenched for longer time spans. The jaw muscles aren’t the only ones you should consider this technique for. You may do yourself a whole lot of good by progressively relaxing all your muscles. This is such a fundamental method that you don’t have to take special time off from work. You can do this while you are at your work table.

Therapy

There may be more serious psychological or mental issues affecting you. These can automatically lead to a generally tense state that results in grinding your teeth. The best way to permanently deal with your dental concern is to take care of your deeper issues first. A licensed professional counselor can help you in this aspect.

Soothing Habits

There’s no need to pay a therapists hundreds of dollars if your problem stems mainly from insomnia that is caused by bad habits. You may become tense for example and start teeth grinding because your late night TV and coffee drinking habits are robbing you of your sleep. You can substitute these habits and stop the grinding of teeth with good habits that promote evening relaxation such as drinking milk, taking a dip in the bathtub and popping in a soothing CD.

Teeth Realignment

If behavioral interventions don’t work, the real problem might be in the structure of your pearly whites. You may be clenching a lot in an attempt to make your bite more comfortable. You might want to consult your dental expert to correct alignment. Braces might help in the long run but some patients simply have to undergo filing.

Teeth Guards

One popular solution that you may want to try is a teeth grinding guard. These are plastic or rubber units that are molded and fitted over an individual’s actual set of teeth. These protect against wearing and damage by preventing enamel contact. There are different types of guards. These can be bought over the counter or they can be custom made. They can also be double wall or single wall, night wear or day wear and made of plastic or rubber. Your choice should depend on such factors as quality, durability and comfort.

You can stop grinding your teeth. All that you really need to do is to find which solution fits you best. Don’t let this problem ruin your oral assets or cause more distress.

Here are a couple of quick videos with David Wolfe interviewing Dr. Mark Merriman, who is an MD and NOT a dentist.

After you watch these videos, please see my comments below, for some further, important clarification – from a dental professional’s perspective…

Here’s Part 2:

Ok, so now you have some scientific proof as to why flossing is so important to your overall health.

Now, here are some of my additional inputs for your benefit:

1.  If you have tight contacts and have difficulty getting floss between your teeth, DON’T use the floss that this doctor recommends.  He recommends using waxed floss, but that is BAD ADVISE.

If you use a waxed floss – even with a natural wax like beeswax – you will be leaving a deposit of wax between your teeth.  This wax can actually provide a “matrix” for bacteria to adhere to, eat, grow and do you harm!

Instead, use one of the new varieties of floss made from synthetic fibers.  Something like “Glide Floss” will do just that – glide in between your teeth very easily.

Not only will the floss easily and painlessly slide between your teeth, but it won’t leave any deposits behind.  After all, the purpose of flossing is to mechanically remove bacteria-laden plaque and other food debris.

2.  Plaque takes around 24-72 hours to harden into tartar, or calculus, as the pros call it.  Once it’s hardened, flossing just isn’t going to work to remove it.  And when hardened, it too provides a perfect matrix for MORE plaque to adhere to.  Thus, it’s a vicious cycle of bacterial accumulation that can, and most likely will, lead to disease.

So, it’s best to floss at least once every 24 hours, in order to prevent that calcification of plaque into calculus.

3.  40% of your total tooth surfaces are between the teeth, where even the most high-tech toothbrush can’t reach.  So, if you’re not a big flosser now, just consider that nearly half of your tooth surfaces are being missed if all you do is brush.

Think about all that nasty bacteria living and breeding in between your teeth.  How much is getting into your bloodstream?  And how’s your breath, by the way?  Have you had any compliments about your fresh breath lately?  Or maybe you haven’t consciously noticed that people actually back away from you when you are talking?

4.  Finally, David makes a good point when he mentions that he uses essential oils to brush his teeth. It takes a while to get used to using a liquid to brush with, if you’ve used a thick toothpaste throughout your life.  But the benefits are worth the adjustment.

You can either mix up your own blend or look online for the few available oil-based products, like OraMD, that are currently available.  If you mix your own, just be sure to use high-quality oils and also to dilute them with some type of carrier oil, as they are super strong if used alone.

The truth is, you don’t need ANY toothpaste to clean your teeth.  It’s really just another commercial ploy to make you think it’s better than brushing alone.  But here’s the deal: plaque is removed from mechanical disruption – period!  In other words, you have to physically remove it, and toothpaste is only marginally effective in doing that, if at all.

In fact,  since most commercial toothpastes contain both fluoride and glycerin, they probably do you more harm than good.

Fluoride is toxic and should not be put into your body for any reason – including in your tap water.  And glycerin leaves a film on your teeth, which acts much like the wax on floss.

This film actually prevents your saliva from actively contacting and re-mineralizing your enamel, which should ideally be an active and ongoing process.

Ok, well, I hope this helps to add a little more value to the videos.  Happy flossing!