I’ve been using a bite splint for almost
three months now and I have a few
questions relating to their use.
My dentist is german and his english is
poor so I have trouble getting a clear
answer from him.
Basically, before I was diagnosed, I had
noticed I was clenching my jaw and
grinding my teeth in my sleep. It
wasn’t too severe though and I wasn’t
grinding all the time or with any great
pressure.
Since using the bite splint at night,
every time I wake up i’m biting hard on
the splint as if that’s the most
comfortable position for my jaw to be in.
On the odd occasion where i’ve not used
my splint at night, I found my self
grinding my teeth quite severely and
waking up with a lot of pain in the
morning. It was never this bad before.
The muscles in my jaw feel exhausted and
it’s now difficult to keep my jaw open
for extended periods. In short, my
grinding has severely worsened and I think
it may be due to the bite splint.
However, when I don’t wear the splint,
it’s even worse.
I’ve recently moved and i’m seeing a
new dentist next week. I just wanted to
know if anyone else had a similar
experience with the splint. Could it be
that my splint doesn’t fit properly? Is
the idea of the splint to stop you
grinding completely or merely to put a
layer of protection between your teeth?
I’m definitely grinding a lot more since
i’ve had the splint.
Any advice greatly appreciated
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myohio
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 05 Mar 2006 Posts: 32 Location: ohio
Posted: 04-24-06 14:33pm
Yes, I had a bite splint made for me by my
dentist and it made things worse too due
to clenching and grinding on it. It was
a soft lower splint, I really needed a
hard upper one, but it costs too much. I
guess it depends on which splint you need,
but I know my jaw started getting worse
after I wore my splint for awhile!
I found a soft splint to be a godsend (
after finally being diagnosed with tmj).
The hard splints are agony in the morning
( migraine) .. Some are better with one
some the other.
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jlsoroch
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 23 Apr 2006 Posts: 10 Location: Canada
Posted: 05-04-06 12:33pm
I have a hard upper splint and I feel that
it makes the problem worse, but like you,
I too find that when I don't wear it my
jaw is worse; it's like the splint has
totally messed up my bite etc. I've been
to several different dentists to get the
splint fixed. One built up the front part
of the slint (where my front teeth meet)
so that would take the pressure off my jaw
and back molars. This didn't seem to
help. The other dentists said the bite
should be even all across my teeth so
built up the rest of the splint.??? I
give up!
Yeah hard ones can be a misery for some.
Soft ones were a blessin for me until
recently wen I got one made n the bite was
wrong, took it back to the govt dentist
who angle grinded ( it sounded like) it ,
stilll wasnt right so I rang a technician
who used heat to adjust it. Its okay
now. Though the damage done from the
begining has not gone.--- wen the bite was
out it caused neck etc pain ( wich I never
had before) .
