This list contains recommendations I've collected to treat bruxism. I've seen several dentist and they usually give you the mouth guard, but nothing about how to solve it. I was even told once that it doesn't have a solution.
I try to cite the source whenever I can. Some are expensive, some others are cheap and it may be worth trying them.
Spite of the aforementioned, this is nothing official, still remember to always visit your doctor/dentist, or ask them.
Some treatments are for related disorders which result in bruxism, so pick and test and hack! Find yours.
- Move jaws to the side 15 times, and to the front another 15 times before sleep.
- Block a nostril, inhale with the open one, change nostril and exhale. Inhale from the open one and repeat. 10 minutes. Alternate nostril breathing.
- Sleeping with an oxymeter helps fix sleep apnea. Facelake FL350 source
- Open mouth open wide during the day for some seconds. source
- Softer pillow source
When breathing was obstructed, my blood oxygen dropped. The oxymeter beeped and woke me up. I changed positions, and went back to sleep, ultimately changing sleep habits to the point that I can get through most nights without awakening. I was able to avoid using a CPAP that way.
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Sleep study helps identify if apnea is present. low oxygen saturation is Very Bad, and frequent arousals are Bad. source
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Velumount device for sleep apnea. Needs a fitting session to mould it. source
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Mouthguard for grinding teeth (sleep guard). Made by dentist. This is the usual tool to avoid destroy your teeth but it doesn't fix bruxism. source source
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Sleep guard (headband). source
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Playing armonica instead of didgeridoo
Apparently some hospitals use harmonicas for respiratory patients. source
- Playing flute source
- Learning how to breath source source source book source
- Therapy source
- Meditation source source
- Acupuncture source
- Feldenkrais practice source source
- Reducing caffeine intake. source
The science seems to be fairly conclusive that high caffeine intake is associated with bruxism
Here the science is a bit less clear: I haven't found any study tying magnesium to bruxism, but there are studies correlating magnesium deficiency with conditions related to bruxism, such as anxiety and muscle tension.
- Mouth tapping. 3m Micropore tape. source
My dad's old college roommate is a bruxism expert and wrote to me: "Bruxism is the body's attempt to dilate pharyngeal muscles to open the airway and facilitate breathing. You probably snore and or have sleep apnea."
I'm a respiratory therapist and grinding is highly common with sleep apnea. Basically, the brain stimulates the jaw to try and move in an attempt to open the airway when it's not getting enough oxygen.
when you stop eating at night, when you stop using devices, adequate darkness, temperature control
- Physical therapy source
the most helpful thing was physical therapy. The process itself was super painful, there were exercises we did involving pinching the muscle and me opening my jaw which were easily some of the most piercing moments of my life.