I’d like to support the investment in a custom-made mouth guard. Sharing my bed with a gnasher and grinder, over the last year this has proved to be a great solution to the symptoms and associated dental side-effects and headaches. Good luck.
I'm a long standing sufferer of migraines, headaches and serious jaw pain, caused by TMJ, clenching and general grinding - and finally decided enough is enough and I should seek a profession opinion.....so.....
I was wondering if anyone knows a dentist in Basel that has an interest or knows a lot about treatment for TMJ? I don't mind what language they speak!
Has anyone had successful treatment? Mouthguards, etc?
Does anyone know if TMJ is considered a medical issue and thus payed for by the normal health insurance? Or specifically a dental issue and then not covered?
You might want to do a bit more research as well on the broader question of TMJ.
Have a look around the question of "neuromuscular dentistry" for a possible solution to the problem (rather than trying to just address the symptoms). A couple of links with some info to get you started:
thanks for the reply - and moving the post - i'm obviously not so good at searching!
i'm quite familiar with theory of tmj and possible causes, and my underlying cause is being dealt with by my psychiatrist and psychologist. nonetheless i remain symptomatic, hence my reason for seeking a relief from the symptoms while i go through the process of sorting out all the underlying stuff.
what i'm looking for is a pointer towards a dentist who has some experience with dealing with such things....and also an answer to the question over whether this is a medical or dental issue....
evilshell - thanks for the recommendation...will give this guy a ring.
Been reading through this thread with interest (there are a lot of grinders on this forum !!) as I really need to get a mouth guard ASAP. I was advised by my dentist 2 years ago to get one as he noticed wear and tear on my back teeth, but the guard he suggested was an exorbitant price even by swiss dental prices, so his advice went by the by. I’m now 2 root canals later, and on a recent flight my back molar broke into pieces. I saw a dentist in Singapore who said all my back teeth had stress fractures in them so really need to get one. (and yes I know that all the treatment I’ve had since has cost more than the original mouth guard would have done....kicking myself now!! ) I have looked up a few guards on the internet and thought about perhaps ordering one from the UK or America, but would like to ask those who have one, if they would recommend the one they have, and the price region.
Definitely don't get one of those over the counter types that you can get from drugstores/pharmacies. They are available here, from what I understand, at certain pharmacies (I think you have to ask). But if you have stress fractures already, you might crack a tooth by putting the hot plastic stuff on it (you have to mold it to you your teeth straight out of it being in boiling water). I did that once, with one I had.
For your first mouthguard, definitely get one made from the dentist. They're much better and longer wearing and more protective than the mold it yourself types.
I know this is a late entry but I concur in going to the dentist. I grind my teeth too and it is related to how much stress I have at work. My husband has woken me up a couple of nights as apparently it is an awful and scary noise . ANyways, when I went home last summer I went to the dentist and he made a "relaxation plate" for me, it helpes a lot and I am through with the awful headaches and left side pain in my face after sleeping, your quality of life will definetely improve.
I'm another tooth-grinder, and my doctor also prescribed a mouthguard. Mine came in at a whisker under EUR600 (luckily covered by my insurance) and despite having spent all that money, I found that I couldn't sleep with it.
Agree you should consider buying a gel mouth guard if it's too expensive. In the states I remember seeing them at a drugstore together with the toothbrushes...I'm sure you can find one at a sporting goods store (or similar). BTW, I was fitted by my dentist years ago for a professional device to help my teeth grinding. I think he cut me a break and gave it to me for 300 bucks. I remember I stopped wearing it at some point but retried about a year later and it no longer fit. My teeth had shifted during this time!
I'm late to this thread but I delayed getting a dental guard for years for similar reasons. The price seemed outrageously expensive and I also didn't want to deal with the hassle of getting fitted, where the dentist would need to take an impression of my teeth and what not. Because I was wearing down my teeth so badly I did buy an inexpensive mouth guard where I think you boil the thing and then put it in your mouth to get the impression. Maybe it was better than nothing but based on what I subsequently read I'm not sure it was such a good idea. My understanding is that you can continue to grind away because the plastic allows for this. With a properly made guard you not only get a better and more comfortable fit but the material is such that even if you grind nothing really happens, i.e., no erosion of your teeth. Long story short, my dentist made me a guard years ago now and I just wish I had done it much, much sooner, when he basically told me too. I don't remember anymore what it cost, but maybe about a thousand US dollars, I think. That's a lot of money but it's one of those things you can't really put a price tag on it, in my opinion.
I agree that it is difficult to put a price on things like this and would have paid that sort of sum for the solution.
It confuses me how much the prices vary. As I mentioned early in the thread, I paid around £45 for mine. It was custom made by the dentist by taking impressions. (I got to keep the original mould as well). Is the UK price massively subsidised, or are others grossly inflating the price?
I have no idea, without knowing what yours is like. Even if I did, who knows but I don't think there's any way mine would go for under a hundred dollars, unsubsidized (rough equivalent of yours). I would venture to guess the price range could be large, depending on the process and quality of materials used. I have been amazed at how long mine has lasted (6+ years?). Some hairline cracks developed early on and I thought for sure I would have to replace it not so long after I got it. By that time I was so satisified with the thing that I almost would have accepted this.
For the record, I think my insurance may have covered a small amount and then I used some pre-tax money to cover the rest so while it still cost me a fair amount there were a couple of things to help ease the cost.
I have the same problem.. I've been using protection for several years now and usually they only last around one year. But a couple of months ago I've started an acupuncture therapy and this really helps a lot, I'm surprised myself. Before I started my whole face would hurt in the morning and I couldn't even open my mouth without pain.
After only two sessions the pain was gone and we are now working on my tinnitus which is probably also the cause of bruxism..