I went to the dentist this morning. I have beautiful teeth. Not a spic of tarter--that's what OCD will give you, incredibly scrubbed teeth.
Unfortunately, it has also given me another gift.
The Judd curse: teeth grinding.
I grind my teeth, clamp them down, rub them back and forth. I grind them in the morning, in the car, when I am vacuuming, dealing with the children, at work...I know that I'm wound a little tight. Always have been. It's my lot in life.
My dentist is a wonderful man who has replaced my bite guard numerous times. I'm sure that many of you are not aware that you can actually grind right through a mouth guard, oh, but you can! He is well aware that given a different circumstance I would have made an incredible chain smoker. God blessed my lungs, but birthed me in the age of cosmetic dentistry (how's that for mercy?)
Conversation with dentist went like this:
Dr. E: Have you had any recent jaw pain?
Me: Yes, I've had a sinus infection that has settled in my jaw. I'm on antibiotics and pain killers and Advil. I can't close my mouth all the way.
Dr. E: How many days haven't you closed your mouth?
Me: Three or four?
Dr. E: Well, you may have a cold, but you also have a dislocated jaw. It's not aligning correctly. You couldn't close your mouth even if you wanted to--your lower jaw is back too far and slightly to the left. You need to have this fixed today.
Me: How did this happen?
Dr. E: You grind your teeth. You get stressed out. You lock your jaw and then open it too wide and it pops out of joint. I know a guy who can help you fix it. I'll make the call...
He knows a guy. I'm going to see him shortly.
He's going to "relocate" the jaw. Thank goodness. Maybe the numbness in my eye socket will go away.
3 comments:
I'm a grinder, too. (but,sometimes I can switch to lip-biting and give my teeth a break.) When I check on my wee little kids at night, I hear them grinding too! Even the baby, who just barely got his teeth . . .
"krrrck krrrck krrrrrrrck" I thought it was static on the baby monitor for awhile, till I heard it up close.
I hope your visit with the Jaw Man goes well.
oh my. he knows a guy. i hope that guy knows what the hell he's doing!
jer and i both grind our teeth, it is very sexy when we both put our huge mouth guards in to go to sleep at night.
Oh Rosa! That is horrible. I can't believe what I'm hearing. Jaw problems run in our family too, with grinding, locking, the whole bit. Though I don't think any of us have done the relocation thing. Ash just went through major jaw surgery to fix her bite. Ick!
But you, lady! You gotta start smoking pot or extracting opiates from poppy or SOMETHING to mellow out that jaw.
Take care - now I am going to go read the next post, where hopefully your jaw is back in place. Love you!
Post a Comment