Still Grinding Your Teeth Even with a Night Guard? Try this instead:

I recently had two patients come in for jaw muscle injections for teeth grinding, and this is something I'm seeing more often than people realize.  A lot of people don't know how much tension they're holding in the jaw - especially at night.  Teeth grinding can lead to jaw pain, headaches, and even wear on the teeth over time.  Many patients have tried mouth guards but may still have tightness or discomfort.  Even if the mouth guards are helpful, they can increase sleep discomfort.

In cases like these, I'll often evaluate whether jaw muscle injections are appropriate.  The goal is to relax the overactive muscles-usually the masseter- so there's less clenching and strain.  You can receive a quick injection into the jaw muscle and notice a difference soon after.  This tends to be a good option for people who know they grind their teeth or wake up with jaw tension, especially if other approaches have not fully helped.  Jaw muscle injections aren’t appropriate for every case because not everyone with jaw pain has overactive jaw muscles.  Sometimes there are other reasons that are driven by the jaw muscles.  If you do want to get this quick procedure done, know that it lasts for 4 - 6 months.

Give us a call at Integrity Naturopathic if you would like to explore if jaw muscle injections are right for you!