Our Blog

Do you clench your teeth when you are feeling stressed? Do you wake up with a headache? Do your jaw muscles hurt? Call our office for an appointment. You may have a habit called bruxism.

WHAT IS BRUXISM?

Bruxism is a habit during which you grind your teeth or clench or thrust your jaw forward over and over again. This habit can affect you’re your oral health. It can cause teeth to break or crack, and increase the chance of gum problems. Adults are not the only ones affected. Studies have found that this can be a problem in children as young as preschool aged.

WHAT CAUSES IT?

Researchers do not know for sure what causes people to do this. Some think stress could be a factor. In preschoolers, studies find an association between grinding their teeth or clenching their jaws and signs of stress such as anxiety or social withdrawal.

Children also can develop this habit when they are losing their baby teeth and their permanent teeth are coming in. Nail biting also may lead to grinding of teeth or jaw clenching. Some children outgrow this, but often adults who grind their teeth or clench their jaws did so as children.

Like many habits, you may be unaware that you do this. You may even do it in your sleep. Tobacco and alcohol use may increase your chances of doing this when you are sleeping. Large amounts of caffeine--for example, 8 or more cups of coffee a day—also can increase this risk. Some medications or illegal drugs may cause users to grind their teeth or clench or thrust their jaws as well.

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

You should contact our office if you notice any of the following:

• Jaw pain
• Headaches when you wake up
• Teeth sensitivity to hot or cold drinks or food
• Chipped teeth or fillings

A number of things can contribute to the problem of bruxism, and there has not been a lot of research on how best to treat it. We may suggest some options, such as:

• Decreasing or quitting tobacco use
• Limiting how much caffeine you eat or drink
• Seeking counseling to help you identify when you are doing it while you are awake to develop ways to relax
• Looking at the medications you take and talking to your physician about other options

We also may talk to you about using an oral appliance, which is a plastic tray that fits over either your top or bottom teeth. Use of an appliance may help reduce grinding, clenching, thrusting and may protect your gums and teeth.

Why does my jaw hurt?

Do you have pain in or around your jaws? Does your jaw get stuck? Do you have painful clicking or popping? Are frequent headaches, a problem? If so, you may want to ask us about temporomandibular disorders (TMD).

Your temporomandibular joint (jaw joint) allows you to open or close your mouth and slide your jaw from side to side or back and forth. It is a complicated system of muscles, connective tissues, and the bony joint itself. Because it is so complex, your jaw joint can develop a number of problems.

Some possible causes of TMD include

Diseases that affect the muscles or joints, like arthritis

• Injury to the jaw joint or connective tissues
• Habitual movements of the teeth and jaws, like grinding or clenching

Other things, like sinus infections, can cause pain in your jaw area. We may want to rule some of these out before identifying TMD as the source of your pain.

DIAGNOSIS

Signs and symptoms of TMD can include

• Pain in or around the ear
• Pain when chewing
• Tender jaw muscles
• Painful clicking or popping when opening or closing the jaw
• Difficulty opening and closing the mouth
• Pain when opening your mouth wide
• Headaches, facial, or neck pain

One large, multiyear study also found that people who develop TMD are more likely to report chronic somatic symptoms-like runny nose, fatigue, or dizziness. Anxiety and depression have also been associated with TMD.

If TMD is suspected, we may check your joints and muscles for tenderness and listen for noises like clicking or popping, ask you about pain, and examine how your jaw moves. Symptoms may come and go or may bother you all the time.

TREATMENT

It is difficult to identify the causes of TMD. Treatment usually focuses on relieving the symptoms associated with it.

There are several things you can try that might help:

• Eat softer foods
• Limit wide jaw movements
• Avoid chewing gum or biting down on anything hard
• Apply moist, warm compresses

If your pain is still a problem, we suggest scheduling an appointment for an exam. We might suggest:

• A night guard or bite plate to decrease stress placed on the TM joints and muscles
• Physical therapy
• Consultation with another specialist

CONCLUSION

Because the jaw joint is so complex, it can be difficult to identify what causes pain in and around the joint. Most treatment focuses on relieving the painful symptoms which may be multifactorial and include other specialists. However, most treatments involve reversible modalities which if followed can relieve the TMD discomfort long term!

As we begin 2021, I wanted to express our gratitude for the trust and confidence all of you have shown to our office. You can continue to be confident we are maintaining the high standards of infection control recommended by OSHA and the CDC. My hope, like everyone else is the vaccine proves to be a long term effective method of containing COVID. We are ready to put this in the rear view mirror!

One of the many joys of my practice over the years has been being able to get to know the families we treat. Often mom or dad would come back in the treatment area with their child accompanied by brother or sister. We would have nice conversations. I miss those!

I resolved to pen this letter to let everyone know what I’ve been up to. Last March when we closed the practice for 7 weeks, my wife Tricia and I decided to quarantine at our farm in West Point, Georgia. Our farm is in good shape but needs an assortment of projects accomplished to bring it to the level we hope for. One of the projects on our list was a stone wall between the house and the lighthouse. I decided this was something I could do with the help of our children who would be coming and going from the farm. I thought, this can’t be that difficult? We have an abundance of natural field stone on the property and how hard can it be to stack? Well, little did I know that the project I thought would take only 2 weeks tooth 7 full weeks and over 100 bags of hand mixed concrete! That will be my one and only stone wall project.

At the end of 2019, I had my left hip replaced and 2020 my right. I’m bionic now. I guess my football days caught up with me since no one else in my family has any hip degeneration. The process is straight forward in at 6:00 am, surgery 8:30 walk out at 12:00! I am so thankful we have the opportunity to do this and return to earlier days with no hip pain!

Our family is doing great and it has been nice since two of our children who live in New York City have been able to work remotely so have come home often. We’re all becoming farmers as we have a garden and fruit trees to tend.

I hope all your family is doing well and 2021 is your best year ever!

Do I have to get my wisdom teeth removed after Orthodontic treatment?

The quick answer is maybe, not all patients’ need them removed but some do, the Orthodontist or your Dentist will help you make that decision at the appropriate time.

There used to be a misconception that all wisdom teeth had to be removed after orthodontic treatment because if they weren’t, the teeth would move/relapse. Well, we now know that wisdom teeth do not cause the other teeth to move. There have been many excellent studies which show that whether you have wisdom teeth or not the teeth can move. The best way to assure they don’t is to wear your retainers or if you have a fixed retainer keep it! Just like you brush and hopefully floss your teeth daily to keep your teeth healthy, if you want to keep your teeth straight then 2 to 3 times a week wear your retainer at night.

The reason for wisdom teeth removal includes:

• Second molar health- These are the teeth in front of the wisdom teeth which have loss of bone support due to wisdom teeth. These second molars can even be lost due to resorption of roots and or bone loss by wisdom teeth.

• Infections/Inflammation of the wisdom teeth which can end up causing emergency surgery to remove these and loss of bone in the back of the jaw.

• Cysts/Tumors- In rare circumstances these can develop form the wisdom teeth

• Halitosis (bad breath)- can develop as a result of inflammation around wisdom teeth

• Cavities- yes, wisdom teeth can develop cavities because a lot of the time they are not accessible to be cleaned properly. If you can’t keep them clean, they need to be removed.

• Poor alignment- if the wisdom teeth come in (erupt) in a poor position so that they won’t be in a position to help with chewing and you aren’t missing the second or first molars then removal is indicated. The reason you would keep the wisdom teeth in the case of missing other molars is sometimes wisdom teeth can be moved to substitute for them thus improving the ability to chew.

Now, if you have enough space for your wisdom teeth, they are aligned and can be kept clean then keep them.

When is the best time to remove wisdom teeth?

The best time is when the roots are about ½ formed. It is easier to remove these teeth then and there is less chance of having post removal complications like infections, numbness and root fractures. The age range for boys is 16-18y.o. and girls 14-17y.o. It’s not that you can’t remove these at other times, it’s just easier then. Sometimes they have to be removed earlier than this due to their impeding the coming in (eruption) of the second molars.

I hope this helps your understanding of wisdom teeth. Maybe we’ve improved your wisdom!