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Guard Against The Grind.

February 15, 2016

One of my earliest childhood memories is that of my father talking to me about an extraction he just had done at the dentist. I remember he complained for long after that the pain he had in the area did not get better from the treatment. It turned out that all he really needed was a night guard to control his clenching habit. I have a feeling he was not the only patient of his generation to be misdiagnosed. Clenching and/or grinding must always be considered if there is no obvious other cause for what the patient is experiencing. There may be nothing wrong with the tooth itself, but the nerves that surround tooth are being compressed by the habit. This could potentially lead to temperature sensitivity and/or discomfort to chewing, among other symptoms. Stop compressing the tooth in it’s socket and the issues resolve themselves. That’s what night guards are designed to do (not to mention protecting your jaw joints, potentially relieve morning headaches, etc., which I will touch on another time). Clenching or grinding might not be the reason for your problem(s), but it must be considered part of the thought process.

Dr. Jay Rabinovich

Posted in Blog by Jade