[want2stopgrinding]

Hello,
Has anyone here started grinding their teeth after a traumatic event? If so, I am wondering if some people have naturally stopped grinding when this is the cause of their grinding?
My mom told me she started grinding her teeth in her twenties due to stress at work, but she eventually stopped grinding. She said I will probably not grind my teeth forever either.
However, my mom found out she was grinding her teeth after a dentist told her that her teeth were being destroyed, and she had no idea that was happening! No symptoms were noticeable to her, such as pain, etc.
I found out after googling my symptoms, because it happened so fast there weren't any signs of damage to my teeth yet, just ear pain for a few months, and eventually, terrible jaw pain.
A traumatic event absolutely triggered my grinding. I have no doubts about this because there was absolutely no ear or jaw pain EVER. Then the event happened, and boom, I began experiencing ear pain almost immediately (within a few days). And again, it hadn't been going on for long because my dentist noticed zero signs of it when examining my teeth.
Basically, I was wondering if anyone else had their grinding begin after a traumatic event, instead of just general life stress/anxiety. I was wondering if anyone else noticed it get less worse or go away over time. I am hoping one day I will stop grinding. It's kind of a bad reminder of this traumatic event. My night guard absolutely relieves my symptoms, but now I've come to realize I will most likely need to buy a replacement night guard once a year or less. Which means every 9 months or so, for the forseeable future, I will start to experience ear pain and jaw pain again (due to my night guard being worn down), and then I will have to shell out a few hundred dollars to have a heavy-duty night guard made, all while dealing with the pain of the symptoms reemerging as well as be reminded of the memory of why/how this all started in this first place.

Just to clarify, in normal day-to-day life, I am not terribly bothered by this traumatic event any more. Luckily, my PTSD went away with some therapy and time, and I can now think about and/or discuss the event without too much pain. What I'm trying to say is- I'm not suffering anymore. I truly feel like I healed.. and maybe this is too much of hopeful thinking, but i'm just thinking: OK. I healed, I got therapy, I honestly, truly feel SO much better -- so when the heck is this teeth grinding gonna stop?!?!?!? Like if the event triggered it, won't healing from the event put an end to it?? It makes me feel like I'm going to be followed around by this reminder for the rest of my life.
Anyway, any relevant experience or tips would be greatly appreciated . Thanks!!

[Skeezyks]

Hello want2stopgrinding: I see this is your first post. Welcome to PsychCentral! PC is a great place to gain support as well as to obtain mental health related information. There are many knowledgeable & caring members here. The more you post, & reply to other members' posts, the more you'll gain from the time you spend here.

Unfortunately I do not know the answer to your question. Recent research with regard to the brain seems to be demonstrating that much more of who we are, & what we do, is controlled by areas of the brain to which we have no conscious access than we typically imagine. So although you may feel healed in terms of your conscious mind, there may be portions of your subconscious mind that are still being affected by the trauma you experienced. One of the concerns here may be that, over time, pathways can get worn into the brain & it can be difficult to get out of them. So, with that thought in mind, if you find that your teeth grinding does not fade within a reasonable amount of time, you may want to seek some professional assistance to see if you can be helped to stop grinding your teeth. At least this is my thinking with regard to your situation. My best wishes to you...

[jbhawkins]

want2stopgrinding! I feel for you. I have PTSD and am a survivor of domestic violence. I suffer from night terrors, and this has all recently manifested in nightly teeth grinding. It has become so severe that my husband wakes up due to the sound. I wake up with pain radiating from the base of my neck to the top of my head, and my jaw pops when I move it. The longer this went on, I noticed that I was becoming extremely fatigued and, ultimately, dangerously depressed. My husband and I did some research and found that bruxism (teeth grinding) occurs during non-REM sleep....so do night terrors. When hypothesized that my fatigue and depression were side effects of not getting enough REM sleep since I spend most of my night grinding away and awake from night terrors regularly.

I, too, purchased a mouth guard. It helps, but I often spit it out in my sleep. Has this happened to you? Also, I've been taking OTC sleep aids to help reset my sleep situation. This helped initially (2 or 3 days), but now, I'm back at square one....night terrors.

I'd love to keep chatting with you. Maybe, between the two of us, we can come up with some solutions?

Best of luck!!

[Jakewell]

I had teeth grinding for years. I went to a brilliant physician, one of the best in the world, who told me 2 surprising things:

(1) I needed to say 'so what' alot
(2) Worrying about symptoms is far worse than the symptoms, see #1

[bddouglas]

I have been a tooth grinder all my life. My trauma began at a very young age (before the age of 5). Friends used to think I was having seizures in my sleep. Grinding my teeth absolutely destroyed them and I had to have them pulled and now I wear dentures. I had them pulled at the age of 27 and I will be 50 in March.

I still suffer PTSD. I certainly hope you find a means of controlling the grinding of your teeth. Talk to your dentist. Best of luck.

[want2stopgrinding]

Thanks for your post! Sure, feel free to message me anytime! I don't know how to personal message on here...
I have a lot of jaw popping and jaw pain, too, even if I'm using my night guard. I don't ever spit it out, but I think that's probably because I stay clenched tight to it all night long haha.
I'm sorry you're having trouble with sleeping.. Maybe keep looking for different sleep meds that work ?
My doctor told me about a treatment with botox for grinding. I am thinking of getting that done so I just worry about this less! Maybe you should also talk to a doctor/dentist about this!

[want2stopgrinding]

Thanks! Do you think that advice was what led you to stop grinding your teeth?

[want2stopgrinding]

@Jakewell Thanks! Do you think that advice was what led you to stop grinding your teeth?

Originally Posted by Jakewell

I had teeth grinding for years. I went to a brilliant physician, one of the best in the world, who told me 2 surprising things:

(1) I needed to say 'so what' alot
(2) Worrying about symptoms is far worse than the symptoms, see #1