Do you clench or grind your teeth?
Have you tried mouth guards, massage, or other treatments with little or no lasting relief?
If so, then getting to the root of why you are clenching to begin with is a big factor you need to address.
So why do we clench or grind our teeth?
Some of it the problem is found in your body below your jaw, some of it is found at your jaw itself, and some of the problem is found up above between your ears.
Below your jaw, your body needs to hold you up a little better. It needs to give your jaw a little less to deal with. The same goes for up above your jaw, that whole in between your ears bit. Your brain; it needs to stop asking your jaw to hold so tightly on the reigns of your days and nights.
At your jaw some things need to help out far more than they have been, and most especially your tongue needs to get onto the roof of your mouth.
Not just get up there, but by and large stay there.
All day, and all night long.
Believe it or not, unless you are talking or chewing the ideal resting position for your tongue is at the roof of your mouth.
If you have issues with clenching or grinding your teeth, I know that may come as a shock to you. I know your tongue is doing anything but that.
The details of both above and below your jaw are often person specific, but the tongue component is fairly basic and some general advice works well for many.
It is often easier to digest this in in a audio/visual format, and because of that I made a video describing the in’s and out’s of this.
If you or a loved one has trouble with this sort of thing, then it is worth a view.
We all know dental work is expensive, and dental problems are miserable. Plenty of times though, chronic clenching and grinding of your teeth does not have to be fixed by a dentist.
Go figure. Things going on at your neck, face and jaw have a powerful effect on your entire body.
At the end of the video linked above, I offer to email a PDF of some very basic, but very helpful drills to begin getting your jaw to let go.
Feel free to shoot me an email if you would like that, and if you have any questions about what I go over in this post, or the video, don’t hesitate to reach out and ask.