MOST people who suffer from headaches would probably reach straight for the aspirin. If the pain persists, you might consult your GP. Not many people, though, would think of turning to their local dentist.
Which may be a pity. More than one in 20 adults may be a habitual tooth grinder - and if you are, you could be paying the price.
Grinders' teeth can press together at pressures of up to 1000lb/square inch - and that can go on all night, every night. The result can be symptoms ranging from blinding headaches to earaches, stiff necks, dizziness, worn teeth, ringing in the ears, shoulder and even back pain, say York Dentists Steven and Jette Holbrook.
If any of that sounds familiar to you, and if the pain you're experiencing really is down to the way you're grinding your teeth, relief just could be at hand. Steven and Jette say a course of treatment to make sure your teeth fit together properly could banish the pain of temporo mandibular dysfunction (TMD) for good.
Grinding may be exacerbated by stress, but the main cause, say Steven and Jette, is thought to be the fact that your teeth simply don't fit together very well. As grinders sleep, their brain subconsciously tries to find a comfortable position for their jaws to rest in. Because the teeth don't fit properly, when grinders' front teeth are together, the jaw joint may be aligned poorly; and when the jaw joint is comfortable, the teeth may not meet properly. The brain keeps trying to compensate, the teeth grind, and the whole jaw tenses up.
Correcting the problem, thankfully, need not be as difficult as it sounds - though dentists in this country tend to be slower to recognise the symptoms than those in the US.
First, say Steven and Jette - who have both completed a three year course run by Stockport Dental Services and approved by the British Society of Occlusal Studies - correct diagnosis is vital. Dentists don't want to carry out intrusive dental work if the cause of your headache or back pain is nothing to do with your teeth.
To check, they will ask questions, study your dental records, and if they think grinding could be the problem fit you with a tiny piece of plastic called an anterior de-programmer that you fit over your front teeth before going to sleep at night.
This keeps the back teeth apart and allows the jaw joint and muscles to relax. If grinding is the cause of your pain, there should be almost overnight relief.
Once that's established, the dentist can move towards a permanent cure. A dental 'splint' is prepared - a plastic cover that goes over all the teeth. That is adjusted to give the wearer a perfect 'bite' - which means their teeth rest comfortably together without the jaw being under any strain.
The patient is asked to wear it as much as possible over the next few weeks - except when eating - giving the jaws time to relax back into a natural, unstressed position. As that happens, the dental splint is adjusted to maintain the perfect bite. Eventually, the jaws reach a natural, relaxed position, and no further adjustments are needed.
At that point, says Steven, the patient can make a choice: either they can keep the splint for the rest of their life, or dental work can be done so that a patient has a perfect bite even without the splint.
The extent of the work needed will depend on how bad the problem is. Treatment may range from a few small adjustments to the surface of the teeth to crowns, braces to re-align the teeth - or in the worst case, even surgery.
Treatment could be expensive - initial diagnosis about £100, several hundred pounds for a splint, more for surgery - and is unlikely to be available on the NHS. But having the problem sorted, says Steven, could be a life-changing experience.
"There are an awful lot of people that are suffering and not getting treated," he said. "That is sad, because it can have a really big impact on your life."
If you think you may suffer from TMD, consult your own dentist first. If they can't help, details of the six North Yorkshire dentists registered with the British Society of Occlusal Studies (BSOS) can be found at the BSOS website on www.bsos.co.uk
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