I
have been practicing dentistry since 1973 and over the years I have noticed
that many patients have overgrowth of bone in the jaw. Dentists refer to this
overgrowth as exostosis or tori. They can be found on the upper jaw or lower
jaw structures. It can be on the tongue side of the jaw or the cheek side and
appears as a knot of bone growing laterally. These overgrowths are benign and
usually cause very little problem. The main difficulty with these knotty
outgrowths is irritation from hard foods which can cause them to become quite
sore. They also present a problem during routine dental impression taking as
the impression tray can hit and irritate these areas. They usually take many
years to develop but are an ongoing and enlarging anomaly. In some cases, when
they appear on the cheek side of the jaw, they can actually cause facial
changes.
While it is hard to find the exact cause
of these lesions, most dentists believe they occur in response to stimulation
of the bone from extreme bite pressures. Some of the same bone outgrowths can
occur in other areas of the body like the foot. My wife has a bone outgrowth on
her left toe. I believe there is a common ground with both the outgrowth of
bone on the foot and mouth. When you look at her left foot and ankle it is
apparent that it tips in putting extra pressure on the left toe. I believe this
extra pressure stimulates more bone growth and creates the lesion. In the mouth
when excess pressure is delivered into the bone by extreme clenching or
grinding forces, I believe the same phenomenon occurs.
There are a great many pathologies or
problems related to clenching and grinding, but this is one that is frequently
overlooked. Treatment for these lesions is surgical and can be quite painful. When
this condition is first noticed the best course of action may not be excision
but prevention of the lesion enlarging. The most practical treatment to prevent
worsening is wearing a guard or device that goes between the teeth and helps to
minimize these destructive forces. These guards are mostly worn at night.
Over the many years that I've
practiced, I've seen numerous devices -- some professional, some
over-the-counter -- to treat problems with clenching and grinding. The
professional devices, of course, are better but they're also very expensive
costing hundreds of dollars. The over-the-counter devices, while less costly,
are flimsy and ill-fitting. Recently a new device called GrindReliefN has come
to the over-the-counter market. Smaller and easier to wear, it has a central
power bar that causes the principal forces to come between the upper and lower
front teeth at the mid-line. This pressure creates a nerve stimulus that
affects the muscles of contraction reducing the intensity by 60% or more. It is
the first and only device I have seen that performs as well or better than the
professional devices but at a fraction of the cost. More information on this
device can be found at www.GrindReliefN.com.
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