Overgrowth of Bone

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.

Migraine Headaches

Migraine headaches are a huge problem. 30,000,000+ people in the United States suffer from migraine headaches. There are many causes for migraine headaches but the three main categories are dietary, environmental and physical. Dietary causes relate to foods people eat that just did not agree with them and can trigger a migraine. Second is environmental. When people are around certain things that they may smell or come in contact with, it may have a toxic effect on their body that can trigger a migraine headache. Third is physical. Brain vessel abnormalities or neoplasms are in the mix but are certainly rare. Certain activities that we do or overdo may cause headaches. Also listed in this group of physical problems is stress. Very nebulous, how can stress cause headaches? People are subjected to stress more and more, it's overwhelming and it's everywhere, but how does the stress cause a headache?

I have been a practicing dentist for over 40 years. More than 30 years ago I developed a problem with severe or migraine headaches. They began to cluster that was occurring two or three days in a row. I had no idea what could be causing this problem and was worried. I went to the hospital and had an MRI done and they could find no reason for the problem. I was not aware that I might be clenching or grinding my teeth and I had no pain in my jaws or teeth. Finally, one day I experienced some pain in my left TMJ. I decided to make a device or guard to prevent my teeth from clenching and grinding. Not only did it help with the pain in my jaw, but it also seemed to prevent the headaches and also prevented the shoulder and neck pain I was experiencing.

How can clenching the muscles in the jaw cause pain in the neck or shoulders and headaches? I call this phenomenon musculoskeletal reflex balancing and I have experienced this in other areas of my body. For example, I pulled some cartilage in my rib cage one morning and by the end of the day, the pain had traveled 180° to my back, right in back of the injury. Conversely in another incident, I injured my back, and the next morning I had a muscle spasm, a counterbalancing spasm in my abdomen, and actually popped a muscle there. If you clench or grind your jaw muscles hard enough, you will get a reflex balancing, triggering shoulder and neck muscle contraction and even headaches.

As a result of this experience I became very interested in the subject, and took numerous courses to study Temporomandibular Joint Syndrome (TMJ) pain and joint pathology. I began to investigate the various types of appliances or guards to help with problems related to joint pain and jaw pain. The standard dentist-provided guard is a horseshoe device made for the upper or lower teeth covering all the way back to the last tooth. I then began investigating a device called the Nociceptive Trigeminal Inhibition (NTI). This is a very small device covering only the front two or three teeth. It can be fitted on the upper front teeth or the lower front teeth and has a bar or ramp which hits the mid-line of the opposite teeth. I found that this is the only device that has FDA approval for the treatment of migraine headaches. In fact, one study they did showed 80+ percent of migraine headache sufferers had improvement when wearing their device. This device, however, has to be made by a dentist and costs hundreds of dollars.

Over the last several years, I have been working on a device called GrindReliefN. This device uses the mechanism of anterior mid-line focus to relax the muscles, however, instead of just hitting the upper or lower mid-line, it hits both at the same time. Therefore, it has double the mechanism of action. Also this device is slightly larger than the NTI covering up to the bicuspid area. It is sold online and now in some retail outlets at a fraction of the cost of the NTI. The patient can form it at home with the aid of online video instructions. We have numerous testimonies about how this device has saved people the pain and suffering of shoulder, neck pain and migraine headaches when nothing else has worked. If you're sick of the pain and medications treating this pain, then GrindReliefN is worth investigating.

Vertigo

Vertigo, or difficulty with balance, has many causes. The center for balance is in the middle ear, therefore anything that affects the middle ear such as a severe ear infection, sinus infection and other nerve maladies can result in vertigo. If you put your finger in your ear, push forward and open and close your jaw, you can feel the head of the jaw compress into the ear.

One cause for vertigo that is frequently overlooked is clenching or grinding of the teeth. When the jaw muscles contract with enough intensity, it puts pressure on the ear and even the middle of the ear. In my 40 years of practice I have seen this happen, but it seems to be fairly rare. In one instance I was examining a patient with an upper denture and she was having a problem with vertigo. I asked if she was wearing her denture at night and she said no. I knew that without the denture she would probably over close and that can cause the jaw to go further back into the ear. I instructed her to start wearing her denture at night and fortunately for her this solved her problem.

However, even people with a normal set of dentition can have problems of vertigo that relate to the jaw and clenching or grinding can be the main causative factor. The best way to prevent this is to wear a guard or device that prevents the teeth from coming together with such extreme force. There are many guards to treat this problem, some professionally provided and some over-the-counter. The professional device is the better of the two options; however they usually cost hundreds of dollars. Recently a new device called GrindReliefN has come to the market, and is sold online and over-the-counter. It is the only device I have seen that matches or exceeds the performance of the professional device. Unlike virtually all the other devices, it is not simply plastic between the teeth. It has a central power bar that exerts the most force on the upper and lower front teeth at the mid-line. This creates a nerve stimulus that causes the muscles to stop contracting up to 60% or more.

A simple pencil test can demonstrate how this works. Place a pencil between your back teeth and you’ll find you can easily bite into it. Take the same pencil and put it between your upper and lower front teeth at the mid-line, you just can't generate the same force. You can see a lot more about this affordable and effective device at GrindReliefN.com.

GrindReliefN Professional Removal 1

Root Canal Treatments

The most common cause of teeth needing a root canal is due to decay that has gone into the central nerve of the tooth. Of course this can be prevented by the timely removal of decay in the early stages and properly restoring the tooth. I have been practicing dentistry for over 40 years, and over the last few years I have seen increasing incidences of teeth needing root canal therapy when there is no restoration, and not even any decay. Most dentists are becoming aware of another causative factor and that is clenching and grinding of the teeth.

Teeth have the worst circulation of any structure in the body. The artery, vein and nerve that go into the tooth have only one entry which is at the end of the root with an opening that is smaller than the sharp end of a pin. The tooth is not fused to the bone but is on a ligament system. When enough force is applied to the top of the tooth, the root is pushed down into the socket pinching on the nerve and blood vessels at the end of the root, this causes the blood vessels in particular to become inflamed or expanded. This would not be a problem in any other place in the body, as we have vessels from many directions to repair the injury. However, with only one small entry point at the end of the root, when the blood vessels here are inflamed, blood does not circulate in and out of the tooth. If the circulation is impaired long enough, the nerve and blood vessels inside the tooth will die and the tooth will need a root canal.

Extreme bite forces usually from clenching and grinding are the main causative factor here. With the extreme stress most people are under in today's world, I am seeing problems related to clenching and grinding at epidemic proportions.

In my opinion, the best way to prevent these problems is to wear a device that helps prevent the teeth from coming together with such extreme force. While there are many devices to help treat this problem, the most effective and affordable device I have seen is GrindReliefN. It is smaller and easier to wear. It has a central power bar which helps exert the most force at the mid-line on the upper and lower front teeth. This creates a nerve stimulus which affects the muscles, causing them to contract with 60% less force.

Sold online and now in some retail outlets; it is the only over the counter device that performs as well, or better than the professional device costing hundreds of dollars. You can feel how it actually works with a simple pencil test. Place a pencil between your back teeth and bite down.  You'll find you can easily bite through the pencil. Now place the same pencil between your upper and lower front teeth at the mid-line and you will find you simply cannot exert nearly as much force.

If you want to avoid root canal therapy and other maladies caused from clenching and grinding, then GrindReliefN is the right device for you. To learn more, visit GrindReliefN.com.

Tooth Fracturing

There are many reasons or causes for teeth to fracture. Typically, most people think teeth fracture because of chewing on something too hard or hitting an object you didn't know was there. I have been practicing dentistry for over 40 years and I'm seeing more and more tooth fractures. Many times people will tell me that they were chewing on bread or mashed potatoes and the tooth fragment came out. Actually what has happened is the tooth was fractured from something previous, and the soft food removes the tooth fragments.

My experience has been that the vast majorities of people clench or grind their teeth, but many don’t realize that they do. Clenching or grinding mostly occurs at night but sometimes occurs during the day under extreme stress. These forces can be extreme, and when combined with a tooth that is heavily filled, it is not uncommon to see a tooth fracture.

 Lately I have seen a lot of teeth that are what we call virgin -- no decay or filling -- and yet there is a fracture. In most cases it is a corner or wall of the tooth that fractures above the gum line, sometimes the fracture extends below the gum line going down into the root. When this occurs there is no option but to remove the tooth. Removing and restoring teeth can help prevent the fractures; also replacing large fillings with a crown which covers the outside can help prevent the fractures above the gum line. If enough force is produced, even with an excellent fitting crown, fracture down into the root is possible.

I have found the best way to prevent some of these fractures is to wear a device -- a protective guard that helps prevent the teeth from coming together with extreme force. While there are many devices available over-the-counter and from your dentist, most of them are just plastic worn between the teeth that don't do anything to stop the extreme muscle activity, and that is the problem.

The professional devices can cost $500 - $700 or more. While over-the-counter devices are much less expensive, they are also inadequate and they wear out easily, and do nothing to stop the activity that causes the problem.

Recently a new device has come to market called GrindReliefN. It is available online and at select retail locations for a reasonable cost. This device is smaller, covering only the front 6 to 8 teeth and can be worn on the upper or lower front teeth. It has a central bar which, when the patient bites down, it directs the most force between the upper and lower front teeth at the mid-line. This creates a nerve stimulus that stops the muscle clenching, reducing it by 60% or more.

The GrindReliefN is the only over-the-counter device that meets or exceeds the performance of the professional appliances at a fraction of the cost. Over my 40 years of practicing dentistry I have made many devices for the treatment of clenching and grinding. By a wide margin, the GrindReliefN is the most effective, wearable and successful device I have ever made.

A simple pencil test can demonstrate how the device works. If you take a pencil and put it between your back teeth and bite down, you can generate a tremendous amount of force. However, if you take the same pencil, put it between your upper and lower front teeth at the mid-line and bite down, you'll see you cannot come near generating the same amount of force. The device is intended to be worn at night but, under extreme stress, it can be helpful during the day also. If you want to avoid tooth fractures and the pain and cost associated with them, GrindReliefN is the solution.

Ear Pain Related to Clenching and Grinding

Ear Pain Related to Clenching and Grinding

Of course there are many causes for ear pain, they can vary from ear wax buildup, outer ear infection, middle ear infection; a foreign body in the ear, sinus problems, or even a sore throat can refer pain to the ear. One cause that is frequently overlooked is the impact of clenching or grinding of the teeth.

The head of the mandible or jaw has a joint just directly in front of the ear. If you put your finger in your ear and press forward, open and close your jaw, you'll be able to feel the jaw bone come into contact with the ear. This joint is called the Temporal Mandibular Joint or T.M.J. Many people lump jaw problems with this T.M.J. solution. To be clear, everyone has two T.M.J.s, you do not need to have pathology of the temporal mandibular joint to have problems with clenching and grinding or referred pain into the ear.

As a practicing dentist for over 40 years I'm convinced that the vast majority of people clench or grind their teeth and not all of them have T.M.J. problems, rather today's stressful world and media scrutiny cause people to have more stress, and as a result they will clench or grind. The intense muscle activity forces the jaw backward and upward directly against the ear, this pressure can cause ear pain that can occur bilaterally, but usually a person will notice it in one ear.

One patient who was a former employee of mine had been to her Ear, Nose and Throat specialist 10 times, he finally told her “Carolyn you don't have an ear infection, why don’t you see your dentist?” She came to me and I made her an appliance to help treat the clenching and grinding; and her ear pain disappeared.

I have practiced dentistry for many decades, and I'm not just a dentist, but also a patient that suffers from clenching and grinding. Over the last several years I have developed a product called GrindReliefN. This product is smaller than the typical Horseshoe devices; it covers only the first 6 to 8 front teeth, it has a central bar which causes forced concentration on the upper and lower mid-line. This creates a nerve stimulus, somewhat of a biofeedback that reduces the clenching and grinding by lowering the muscle activity 70% or more. It is the most wearable, effective and durable device I have ever seen to treat the problems of clenching and grinding.

More information on this unique device can be seen at GrindReliefN.com. There is also a link to a video on Fox 2 News that gives a lot more information on the product.