TMJ/TMD Chiropractic? Something else?

[MomToKandE]

I've been wearing a night guard for my nighttime grinding/clenching since I was in high school. Usually as long as I wear it I'm OK but I'm afraid things are getting worse.

I'd been getting some morning headaches so when I was in for my regular cleaning a week ago I mentioned to my dentist that the night guard might be out of balance. Sure enough, she checked and it is. I have an appointment next week to get that fixed.

In the mean time I've started having a lot of pain on my back right molar area. It feels like the pain is deep in the bone there. I know this is where I put most of the pressure when I grind (I've worn through 2 night guards in that spot). Because I just had a cleaning I'm reasonably sure it's not a decay or infection issue.

Is there anything besides the night guard I can be doing both short term and long term? I tried to research chiropractic care but the pro-chiro sites are SO pro-chiro (they're the answer to everything!) that they often don't sound credible.

Is there anything I can do to actually stop grinding? Any advice is welcome.

[tanyalynn]

Some folks find supplemental magnesium helpful. I tried CST (cranial-sacral therapy, somewhat similar to chiropractic, but I think it can be more focused on face/jaw alignment issues) and it didn't help, but I've heard it helps some.

[abemom2]

What I'm doing now for that, is to add some composite to the "I-Tooth." I can't really explain it, but it's building up the tooth that's before the big teeth. A holistic dentist and others here can probably explain it better. I have a very sensitive tooth..., no cavities in it, we tried grinding a bit around it.

If this won't work, I'll try a night-guard after.

Good Luck.