Re: clenching question

In article <pqh3t3prnnqv2ovfc5lr5ccbu0uisirqd1@xxxxxxx>, Newbie@xxxxxxx
wrote:

On Fri, 07 Mar 2008 07:40:07 -0800, The Webby
<tmjiatroepidemic@xxxxxxx> wrote:

In article
<tmjiatroepidemic-562666.07310607032008@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
The Webby <tmjiatroepidemic@xxxxxxx> wrote:

In article <1204897826_76534@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
Steven Fawks <tuthjockey@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Good kitchen knives are stored in a wooden block instead
being loose in a drawer. The reason is to keep the blades
from being damaged banging against each other.

Your teeth should be regarded in similar fashion. They
are the hardest structure of the human body, but they
will be damaged by abuse. The most common abuse is to
clench and/or grind them against each other.

With a normal anatomical build, there should be 'freeway
space' where your teeth are not touching, yet your lips
can easily close. That should be the jaw position most
of the time.

Placing your tongue against the roof of your mouth will allow for the
"freeway space" and a resting point for those muscles. If there are
anatomical irregularities, this tongue position may not be effective.

Webby

Sorry Webster, this tongue placement is completely wrong.
Laying the tongue flat in the floor of the mouth and suppressing
it to it's lowest possible point will relax the muscles of
mastication. Just try it and you will feel the difference.


Hmm. The placement, more precisely described, is: place the tongue on
the roof of the mouth, just touching behind the upper front teeth. You
should be able to feel a significant difference between whatever you are
doing and when resting the jaw in that arrangement.

When doing as you suggest, the fatigue is instant and in a short time
becomes intolerable. Hmm.

W.

This is not a secret maneuver. I just realized that I don't often read
posts from people suggesting this so I thought I'd give it a "shot". ;-)

W.


But....not everyone has 'normal' anatomy. Your dentist
should be able to tell you.

Steve


martin wrote:
I clench my teeth while I'm awake - not hard, it's just that it seems
to feel more natural to have my jaws together. Yet I've read that your
teeth shouldn't touch when you're not eating.

This raises a question. When I realise I'm clenching, I relax my jaw
muscles, but this means my mouth opens. So this means that to be a
'non-clencher' you have to go around with your jaw muscles *partly*
relaxed. To me, that seems totally unnatural: when you contract a
muscle, it seems almost instinctive to contract it all the way.

Keeping a muscle half-contracted, hour after hour, seems a tall order
- and in the case of your jaws, you have to do it unconsciously,
unless you want to spend your whole day fixated on your teeth.

So how do people do it? (This isn't a facetious question, BTW).
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: clenching question
    ... from being damaged banging against each other. ... Your teeth should be regarded in similar fashion. ... "freeway space" and a resting point for those muscles. ... I relax my jaw ...
    (sci.med.dentistry)
  • Re: clenching question
    ... from being damaged banging against each other. ... Your teeth should be regarded in similar fashion. ... "freeway space" and a resting point for those muscles. ... doing and when resting the jaw in that arrangement. ...
    (sci.med.dentistry)
  • Re: clenching question
    ... from being damaged banging against each other. ... Your teeth should be regarded in similar fashion. ... I relax my jaw ... muscles, but this means my mouth opens. ...
    (sci.med.dentistry)
  • Re: Denture Question
    ... I also TMJD and all the teeth in the lower jaws have extra canals; ... The endo confirmed the jaw abnormality ... appalled that he caused me so much pain in the beginning and he knows ...
    (alt.med.fibromyalgia)
  • Re: Denture Question
    ... I also TMJD and all the teeth in the lower jaws have extra canals; ... The endo confirmed the jaw abnormality ... appalled that he caused me so much pain in the beginning and he knows ...
    (alt.med.fibromyalgia)