Teeth grinding

[jc141265]

For 2 years Dad would grind his teeth continually, our only relief from a sound that is surprisingly like a form of torture after a while was chewing and bubble gum.

Has anyone else experienced this? Since going into a home, Dad has stopped grinding his teeth, but i do notice he does occasionally, usually when Mum comes to visit, still now so I'm wondering if it was a sign of stress, or did he do it just to drive Mum nuts??!! I looked up teeth grinding on the net and all I could find was links to stress.

 

[Brucie]

At the home Jan did go through a phase of grinding her teeth and I had the doctors check her mouth in case there was a dental problem. There wasn't, and she stopped soon after.

It may be worth checking his teeth aren't aching, or his gums are not bad.

I sometimes think that, in their increasingly closed in world, they almost find these things to do because they can do so little else. It may be a form of whistling, or humming to them. They can't know that it drives us crazy.... it is something they can have control over.

 

[jc141265]

Toothache

Yeah, we got all those checks done, couldn't find anything and as I said he doesn't do it anymore, for the majority of the time.

Thanks Brucie

 

[CraigC]

Hi Nat,

you may want to check out the following thread which briefly discusses the issue.

http://www.alzheimers.org.uk/talkingpoint/discuss/showthread.php?t=1856&highlight=teeth+grinding

Kind Regards
Craig

 

[Canadian Joanne]

My mother didn't grind her teeth but she cleared her throat every minute or so for about 10 months. It was incredibly irritating. I had her looked at several times, throat swabs done etc. Nothing wrong - it just seemed to occur when she wanted to get out of a situation, was bored or anxious. At that point, that was all the time.

It has since stopped so it seems to have been a phase. Hope your dad gets out of it soon.