Teeth clenching and splitting teeth

[Crackedtoothguy]

Hello Everyone,

First time poster from Toronto and I'm at a loss trying to solve my problem that I hope someone can help.

I clench my teeth at night and have been wearing a night guard (lower) for 10+ years. I wear it 98% of the time but occasionally over the decade I forgot it once for a trip and have fallen asleep on the couch watching tv without it on. On these occasions I crack a tooth that becomes unrepairable. I have 3 molar implants on the bottom and a upper that I just lost in December 2017. I feel another upper is cracked too but not all the way through yet. The one I lost in Dec 2017 the Dentist said when extracting she found it to be really brittle and was breaking of in pieces on her.

I've been trying to re-mineralize my teeth using MI paste but not sure if this is wishful thinking that it will help.

I'm thinking about a upper mouth guard as well like a Farrari or NTi-tss guard.

Any suggestions how to make my teeth stronger or to armour it even more?

Thank you, I'm afraid I'm going to be in dentures eventually :-(
Brian

 

[Busybee]

Hi Brian, have you ever had chemotherapy?

 

[Crackedtoothguy]

Hi Busybee

No I haven't, but I know acid reflux was a issue years ago for me and I regret using teeth whitening trays years ago too as both I'm sure weakens the enamel...

 

[Busybee]

Did you go to the dentist to have tooth whitening or were these trays you bought on the internet?

 

[Crackedtoothguy]

I did the Zoom teeth whitening followed by trays and liquid both from the dentist.

 

[Busybee]

Reflux can really mess your tooth structure up. I have two friends who have been affected. One has had implants the other has been told that his back teeth are on their last legs. I'm surprised you haven't had gold onlays or something to strengthen the structure. I'm a grinder and wear a guard but I managed to crack one tooth with a guard! How unfair is that. The crack wasn't too bad and now it's under an onlay. I also have reflux but it's totally under control now and I don't think it ever reached my back teeth although I could feel acid in my throat when it was really bad. I've had all sorts of adjustments to try to fix my bite and at the moment I am not clenching because of the work. But I wouldn't recommend bite adjustments because I've had such a terrible time with it all. I think all you can really do is to have a healthy diet, look after your gums (do you see a perio?) and floss and always have a guard with you.

By the way some dentists recommend botox to relax the jaw muscles but I've read that can affect the bone mass in the jaw causing it to shrink. I think mindfully relaxing your jaw all day so you get used to not clenching and also having some dental physio with acupressure massaging or even maybe some ultrasound helps. I've had some of the massaging and it really helped when I was clenching a lot.

 

[Crackedtoothguy]

I'm finding that my 3 Dentists I've had over the years haven't given me the support to resolve the issue but ways to fill in the holes to make them money. I just found out about inlays and overlays recently through my research and may use it for the remaining lower molar with a cavity in it to strengthen it. I never heard of dental physio with acupuncture until you mentioned it, thanks

 

[Busybee]

Well dentists don't usually like to put onlays onto healthy teeth There is always a risk of root failure or bite problems. It's also possible there is a reason why they don't want to suggest this to you. Perhaps the tooth structure isn't strong enough to support an onlay? It's an invasive treatment and it would be unusual to put one in before there's a crack. You need to discuss this with your dentist. At least your last dentist realises you have brittle teeth so she may be more sympathetic to trying different options.

Complementary therapies such as acupuncture/acupressure can help your overall health as well as making the jaw more relaxed. I'd say with a problem like this it's really important to keep as healthy as possible and make sure you do all you can to keep the connective tissues supplied with blood and nutrients. I found yoga really helpful. I know it's theoretically nothing to do with the jaw but it re-balances the whole body and works on the neck and jaw too. Really gets the circulation boosted.

I had a friend who had a similar problem to you. She was youngish (in her thirties) and had lost more than one tooth due to cracking. She said it was genetic as her dad had the same problem.