Teeth Grinding

Deidre

Registered User
Oct 30, 2016
1
0
My father has begun to grind his teeth in the past few weeks. Does anyone know of anything we can do or any medication he can be given to stop this, or if indeed medication is the cause? A new GP is gradually taking Dad off medication that he was given in hospital which is great and he is gradually becoming more awake and alert, but the teeth grinding persists.
 

BR_ANA

Registered User
Jun 27, 2012
1,080
0
Brazil
Deirdre my mum used to grind her teeth about 4-5 years ago. She used Botox on her face muscles to soften the grind. However 2 years late her teeth were all loose ( according to google it was a side effect of Botox). ( surgery and general anaesthesia to remove her lasting teeth).

One thing that I think worked was physiotherapy's sessions 3-4 times a week to reduce stress on her face (however expensive). Or maybe she just got away from that phase. Not sure
 

Canadian Joanne

Registered User
Apr 8, 2005
17,710
0
70
Toronto, Canada
My mother went through tooth grinding but she started to do so quite late in her illness. At one point it was so loud and prolonged you could hear it from 10 feet away. It was just awful. If I told her to stop grinding, it might work for a minute. Eventually she did it less and less but she continued to do so until just a couple of months before she died.

Sorry I can't offer any help, I just wanted you to know it wasn't that unusual.
 

jaymor

Registered User
Jul 14, 2006
15,604
0
South Staffordshire
My husband was continually grinding his teeth. He would stop from time to time only to start again. All his teeth were ground down but non of them loose. When I asked the doctor was there something we could do his reply was " only to remove his teeth which is a bit drastic".
 

fizzie

Registered User
Jul 20, 2011
2,725
0
dentists can supply teeth guards to prevent damage to the teeth from grinding but they might not be suitable for someone with dementia
 

Margaret938

Registered User
My husband George has been grinding his teeth for a few months now, he has managed to break one of them off completely, now he has started on the one next to it, which I noticed today is now slack. It is not the easiest thing to sit and listen to every afternoon I am with him and unfortunately I am not very good a just 'switching off', because I worry about him all the time. I have no idea if he is in pain, because he doesn't show it. I was not aware that this was a dementia problem, until I looked up the posts on TP. Now I know that I am not alone.
 

Suzanna1969

Registered User
Mar 28, 2015
345
0
Essex
I grind my teeth in my sleep and clench during the day, I often catch myself doing it. It's from stress though.Sometimes the pain in my jaw is unbearable.

My dentist is in despair. He's tried me with a mouth guard (which saved my teeth from damage but I can't sleep in it and just grind against that anyway so still get jaw pain), Botox (didn't work) and says I am the worst case he's ever seen. I've even tried hypnotherapy! It's actually changed the shape of my face by building up the muscles in my jawline.

Latest thing we are going to try is a kind of earplug called Cerezen. It's a relatively new thing. Can't think it would be suitable for someone with Dementia though as they would probably just pull them out.

My GP has referred me to a Neurologist for it. I have no idea what they might be able to do and the appointment is 2 months away, I shall let you know when I've been though!
 

Chrissyjohnny

New member
Oct 17, 2020
1
0
dentists can supply teeth guards to prevent damage to the teeth from grinding but they might not be suitable for someone with dementia
I buy guards 4 mm thick and still the grinding continues. The consultant who diagnosed him with bvftd has no solutions really . It is heavily linked with stress. With bvftd the persons conscious mind does not know they are ill but I think the subcontious mind does no the brain is dying and that is the stress I think
 

nellbelles

Volunteer Host
Nov 6, 2008
9,842
0
leicester
Hello and welcome to DTP @Chrissyjohnny
in case you missed the dates you have answered a post from 2017 so it is unlikely the original poster will see your comment...
I hope now you have found the forum you will continue to post it is a very helpful forum
 

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