When Migraine is not a Migraine - Bruxism

Bruxism is the grinding of the teeth, and is typically accompanied by the clenching of the jaw. Most people do it at some point of their lives but for some (25%, according to wiki), this could become a significant health problem.

Yours truly has come acrose a peculiar forum post on BrainTalk Communities .

gizmogirl, one of the forum's regulars, is trying to bring attention to Bruxism and proper treatments of thereof.

She points out - "Even if 20% of the population is doing it, only 5% get pain, and maybe less than 1% of refractory migraines or cluster headaches are cured by identifying and stopping TMD."

The advise she gives is thus:

"The patient suffering from the chronic pain of teeth grinding or jaw clenching may have anything from local pain to severe cases of inflammation with spasms so severe that they set off migraine-like headaches requiring cerebral vasoconstrictors, and/or neck and shoulder pain that can even shoot down the arm. The variety of symptoms and their severity can make diagnosis difficult. The patient can also have eventual or causitive damage to the jaw joint(s), teeth, and maybe bone loss. Severe cases may not be treatable until a short course of Botox breaks the cycle. Kids usually go through and spontaneously outgrow Bruxism.

After diagnosis, the actual cause of the grinding or clenching must be determined and eliminated. This can require stress reduction and/or dental restoration to fix a bad bite (malocculsion). Botox alone, done repeatedly, without fixing the cause, will eventually damage the jaw muscle permanently. Use the relief period Botox gives you to learn how to stop the activity. Usually stopping E.G. jaw clenching requires an investment of time (stress identification and reduction). Usually insurance does not pay for Botox and some of the other TMJ/TMD treatments since there is no one-size-fits-all treatment that insurers can cost justify.

Something to try for daytime unconscious jaw clenching is to let your tongue rest comfortably in your mouth with the front or back of it resting comfortably just touching the upper jaw. Then let your lower jaw rest up against your tongue, without actually biting the teeth together. This is an attempt to find a "stable" position for your lower jaw that does not stress your jaw joint. Try to make it habitual."


gizmogirl has also collected and posted links that will be of help to anyone searching for more on the topic:

http://health.ucsd.edu/specialties/surgery/davidson/consults/tmj.htm
by UCSD professor Dr. Davidson

http://www.westsidemedicalspa.com/tmd-treatment-los-angeles.html
by Dr. Rivkin

http://www.designersmilz.com/html/tmj.html
and
http://www.designersmilz.com/html/reconstruction.html
by Dr. Correa

Do check the forum post for any additional info or to reply to the poster if Bruxism, TMJ or TMD is what ails you, my gentle readers. As you can see, you are not alone.

link: TMJ,TMD, Bruxism-botox, guards insufficient