I am so frustrated. I realize I caused this problem, but I didn’t know I was doing it. My mouth seemed to be changing where I couldn’t see my teeth at all. I had to smile super hard to even get them to show. My jaw has been aching as well. I spoke to my dentist about it and he said I grind my teeth and suggested I get a mouth guard from the drug store. I did, but it is uncomfortable. Are there other options for me?
Craig
Dear Craig,
I don’t know who your dentist is, but I would like you to find another one. If I understand you correctly, he has known for years that you grind your teeth and did nothing? He didn’t let you know or suggest a mouth guard? A second issue is that he just sent you to the drugstore for the mouth guard. While they’re okay in a pinch, they are not designed to fit your bite correctly. Your dentist could have provided you with a custom-fitted mouth guard. This would have been better for your jaw.
It sounds like you have ground your teeth down so much that your jaw is now misaligned, which is contributing to the pain you are in. If this is not dealt with you will end up with some TMJ problems. If your teeth are as ground down as I suspect, you will need a full-mouth reconstruction, which means placing dental crowns on all the damaged teeth (and possibly some dental implants on the unsaveable ones) to re-align your bite correctly.
However, this is not something you can let any dentist do. It takes extensive post-doctoral training in reconstructive dentistry. I would look for a dentist with two specific qualifications. First, I’d like him or her to have had training at one of the following places:
- The Kois Institute
- The Pankey Institute
- The Dawson Academy
- The Las Vegas Institute for Advanced Dental Studies
Second, I would love for them to be a fellow with the International Congress of Oral Implantologists.
This blog is brought to you by Sugar Land Dentist Dr. Siny Thomas.