Do you Grind your teeth?

A lot of people grind their teeth...not just in anger or frustration....but a pathological continous grinding that occurs mostly during the night while they are asleep....This is a condition known as Bruxism...and people who suffer from bruxism are called bruxers.


Most bruxers dont even know that they are bruxers. When asked if they grind their teeth they will in all probability answer in the negative. The only people who would know ( if at all) would be the person who sleeps next to them...the spouse perhaps... and that too only if they are light sleepers. If the spouse is easily awakened then many a time they are aware that a funny irritating clicking grinding sound is coming from the wife/husband at night. 


Most people ignore this and even if told that they probably are bruxers they feel ' " Big deal...so I grind my teeth. What's that got to do with anything?" 


Actually - a lot. 


The signs of trouble may take a while in coming but come they will. Almost certainly. Unless your teeth and jaws are made of iron which they aren't. Maybe if you were a terminator but not otherwise. 


Given a sufficient period of time without correct intervention you could end up with:

• worn down teeth
• chipped teeth
• fractured teeth
• sensitivity with your teeth
• pain in the jaws/joints
• muscular pain in your cheeks 

Case 1: Your teeth may end up looking like this if the condition is severe...

What's more even if you get restorations done and do not attempt to correct the original problem - the bruxism will even wear down restorations/crowns/bridges as can be seen in the next case. 

Case 2: The Patient has worn down all the restorations in his mouth

Lots of factors are responsible for the beginning of bruxism:

• High stress levels
• sleep disorders
• any kind of teeth maloccusion where teeth do not meet in harmony
• use of certain drugs

These and many other factors may be causing or aggravating the condition. 

Bruxism is not completely understood. Neither is its treatment totally straightforward. What is definite though that the teeth and the jaws need to be protected from further trauma. It is not enough to just restore the broken, chipped teeth.

All patients of bruxism must wear nightguards/mouthguards. These are basically acrylic forms that are specific to each patient's dentition. The patient simple has to slip it on while sleeping at night. There is no pain involved and no complicated wearing procedure. This simple treatment protects the teeth from wear and tear throughout the night. 

Mouthguard 

Besides the mouthguard, the doctor will recommend some restorations if necessary. But a change in lifestyle and decreasing stress levels will certainly help.

Above all things, I must not get angry. If I do get angry I knock all the teeth out of the mouth of the poor wretch who has angered me. 

Franz Schubert 

Find out what is causing your stress and get rid of it. Of course not all reasons for stress can be gotten rid of. Your wife and her latest credit card bill is one of them :)

Do not ignore your dental problems. They don't go away. They get worse. 

You have a bigger role in curing yourself than you Imagine!

Healing is an extraordinary process. There is no doubt that HEALING is a complex and spectacular event. It involves millions of cells, molecules, chemicals and processes. 


But healing is more than just that. Healing involves more than events that can be explained by plain science. Healing involves a process perhaps more vague than can be explained by medicine. 

Health and healing are about more than the eradication of disease. Health is related to wholeness and holy--knowing who we are and how we are connected with the world around us. ~ Larry Dossey

I believe there is more to the role of the patient than is popularly advertised. More than just compliance with taking drugs and following instructions. I think there should be a willingness to be healed. A desire to be healed. A belief that he/she can be healed.


All kinds of people walk into the clinic. Positive people, negative people, people who don't care at all, people who care way too much....... everyone of them reacts differently to procedures..to experiences. All of them have different pain thresholds. But it isn't how they react during treatment so much as after it, that we believe influences their outcome.

A lot of people say they want to get out of pain, and I'm sure that's true, but they aren't willing to make healing a high priority. They aren't willing to look inside to see the source of their pain in order to deal with it. 

Lindsay Wagner 

There are some people so determined to make everything work for them that sometimes even a situation less than ideal - works spectacularly well in their favor. Then there are the people who just believe in Murphy's law to the extent that even if everything goes right for them - they'd keep anticipating something bad. 


The result? A perfect procedure...perfect execution and yet - an ache here...a niggling discomfort there..constantly dogging them. 


This is not to say that everybody who doesn't believe in blue skies and rainbows will have things go wrong for them in the dental office. It is just that we believe that Trust in the doctor and belief in a higher healing power helps to round off rough edges.

“Healing takes courage, and we all have courage, even if we have to dig a little to find it.”

And how to trust your doctor? Well the fact that you have come to him/her after having at least 400 other options available is evidence of the fact that somewhere on some level the trust has begun. The fact that after getting a procedure done once - you return to the same doctor is another step in the same direction. Then don't stop that process in the nascent stage. Let it grow. Let it reassure you. 


If your instincts are telling you otherwise - turn and run. If not - Trust that Trust and let it heal you. 




oh and that saying - " Everything heals with time"  - well - It applies to dentistry too. :)




www.aryasdentalcare.com

Happy People make for Beautiful People and Beautiful Smiles

“As you think, so shall you become.”

There is something to be said about happy people. They always look beautiful. They may have imperfect complexion, flawed bone structure and less then spectacular smiles and yet they make you want to look at them again. And again. 


Maybe they appeal to something deep down inside you. With their childlike excitement and positiveness surrounding them they make us want to believe that there is hope. All the time. Everywhere. 


This is such a rare thing today with the news channels playing morbid artists painting dreary pictures all the time and people all around playing reluctant muses.


People who can absorb all this negativity and still come out smiling are such a rarity that is amazing to be in their presence. They make themselves beautiful just by being who they are. 


Now if only we could find a 'happy drug' - we would put it in a little goodie bag for all our patients!!! :)


www.aryasdentalcare.com