Previous | Memories | Tell Someone | Next
 
hsapiens
hsapiens
21 February 2007 @ 12:23 pm
Toothy Things  
The dentist decided yesterday that I have to get a night guard to stop me from clenching my jaw. Apparently if I don't stop I'm going to build up enough bone that they'll want to consider surgery to remove excess bone and that sounds positively painful and like something to be avoided at all costs.

Has anyone ever had one of these things? How annoying is it? Did it work? The mold-making led me to believe that this is going to be a very uncomfortable thing.

The dentist is never a *fun* visit but I schedule my cleanings for early afternoon and end up taking off the entire afternoon so it isn't bad. Yesterday's visit was no fun at all, though, because I was suffering from an allergy attack. Excuse me, I was suffering an adverse reaction*** to having walked past a seafood counter at the grocery store.

Today? I feel hungover, which is very annoying. I think being hungover should happen from exercising poor judgment while having fun rather than being stupid while walking past food.

***I have weird allergies adverse reactions. I am allergic to bizarre things: seafood, roses, and champagne -- but hey! I'm a cheap date!
 
 
Current Mood: lethargic
 
35 comments | Leave a comment
 
( Post a new comment )
[identity profile] la-directora.livejournal.com on February 21st, 2007 06:29 pm (UTC)
Just a thought...I bet the discomfort of the night guard would be less than the discomfort of jaw surgery.
Mish: Thor -- I survived Roswell[identity profile] hsapiens.livejournal.com on February 21st, 2007 06:37 pm (UTC)
Absolutely. I'll wear it if it actually works because even if it were just as uncomfortable, I'm all about keeping away from surgery on my bones.

I'm not really clear on how wearing something that seems to line my palette and teeth, though, is going to interfere with the mechanics of clenching and the resulting bone buildup. Now I'll be clenching with some plastic between my teeth. The problem is the force I'm exerting and I don't see how that's changed by the appliance.

If I hadn't been suffering from a migraine while I was there, I'd have asked more questions. It's only now that my head is less fuzzy that I'm realizing I don't really understand.
Mish: Sam -- Genius[identity profile] hsapiens.livejournal.com on February 21st, 2007 06:51 pm (UTC)
palette?!? WTF? Have I become an artist? My palate. *sigh*
[identity profile] la-directora.livejournal.com on February 21st, 2007 06:57 pm (UTC)
I thought it had something to do with reducing the pressure added by the grinding of the teeth, with the plastic guard buffering some of the pressure. Sort of like how it hurts your jaw less when you bite down on a piece of cheese than when you bite into, say, a peach pit. But I haven't looked at this stuff in a long time.

My issue, which I have to solve eventually, is that I have neither an underbite nor an overbite. (Most people have at least a slight amount of one or the other.) Which means any jaw clenching or teeth grinding I do is wearing away the edges of my teeth. Whee!

Ain't getting older fun? :P
Mish: Thor -- I survived Roswell[identity profile] hsapiens.livejournal.com on February 21st, 2007 07:20 pm (UTC)
Happily, I'm a clencher but not a grinder. I've seen the effects of stoneground grain diets on early human populations and that's very unpleasant. I've been reading a bit more and best I can tell from the internet, the point seems to be to interrupt my behavior rather than cushion my jaws.

I don't have the headaches or other problems commonly associated with clenching, so that's a relief. I just have these really awesome pillows of bone. They're bad enough that if I ever do lose a tooth, I'd have to have a dental implant because the bone would make dentures impossible. Oh yeah. Getting old is a laugh a minute. :|