If you grind your teeth, you are probably pretty screwed.

Once you work through people trying to sell you shit stuff and quacks offering naturalistic   potions, blessed by saints,  you probably need to read “ current treatments of Bruxism” by Guaitia and Hogl.  Read it here https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4761372/

Here is the conclusion

“In the absence of a causal treatment, the management of bruxism focuses to prevent progression of dental wear, reduce teeth grinding sounds, and improve muscle discomfort and mandibular dysfunction in the most severe cases.

Counselling and behavioral strategies, splint therapy, medications, and contingent electrical stimulation have shown heterogeneous results in resolving the EMG events associated with sleep bruxism, and most of the RCT did not evaluate the effects on other symptoms such as pain or tooth wear progression. Long-term studies with a wide severity spectrum of sleep bruxism patients, and comparing the effect of different treatments should be performed to elucidate the importance of each intervention in the resolution of the signs and symptoms commonly referred by the patients. The choice of not treating bruxism must also be further explored, at least in asymptomatic patients with only mild dental wear. Even more must be done to successfully treat awake bruxism, in which RCTs are still lacking”

Or read  my executive summary.

Fuck

However, as it says , its  “still reasonable to recommend good sleep hygiene in clinical practice, especially considering that alcohol, tobacco, and coffee consumption are risk factors for sleep bruxism  and that sensitivity to stress is commonly reported by the patients”

The good news is there is a Bruxism Association. They  basically, want to shove stuff in your mouth

http://www.bruxism.org.uk/how-can-i-stop-grinding-my-teeth.php

I think it exists more to support dentists, but it could be rallying support to promote further research

More good news could be that the Bruxism association supports  feel good happy solutions.  “ General relaxation techniques including meditation are supposed to produce a sense of self-esteem and control over one’s body”. The draw back , however, for anyone with even the vaguest grip on reality is  “there is no current literature regarding the efficacy of this holistic approach to the management of bruxism”

That said  I suspect I have to join in and say, cut down the drugs, try and de-stress and meditate a bit . And yes, I  can taste sick in my mouth for saying that.

BTW: my name is Andrew Stemler and I’m an East London personal trainer and massage therapist. You can book me by emailing me  Andrew@crossfitlondonuk.com