Jaw and Tooth Anxiety

[chickenlady4321]

I can’t stop focusing on how to hold my jaw or where to put my tongue. It’s like I have completely forgotten what is normal. My teeth hurt and constantly feel like they are moving. My dad is my dentist and I had him equilibrate some of my teeth and they are now worse. He explained to me that he barely took of anything. Like a individual hair thickness. I wear retainers at night. I take my retainers out in the morning and my teeth feel way misaligned and the day is ruined. They bump against each other all day long and feel like they keep moving around. I cannot fall asleep without the retainers, but they cause me to forget how to function normally. It’s been a month since I have been this way. I have sores in my mouth and my gums are slowly receding, but no one can figure out what is wrong. I have had tooth X-rays, I have had gluma desensitizer used on my teeth twice, and I have gone back to my orthodontist to have new retainers made and they still make my teeth move around to different positions. By the end of the day my teeth throb and have moved to completely different positions. My teeth are sensitive to different temperatures and it seems to get worse everyday. My front top teeth and bottom teeth feel like they hit each other but my orthodontist didn’t think I needed to fix it. I’m constantly trying to figure out where to place my tongue, whether to hold my teeth together or hold them apart. Nothing feels right. I sleep with my teeth together at night....if I can sleep. I had a splint retainer made but it makes everything even worse. I am currently taking Zoloft 100mg and Seroquel 25mg for sleep. I take two .5mg Xanax as needed for anxiety, but I constantly feel drugged and it’s getting to the point where the Seroquel isn’t even helping me sleep. No matter what I try I can’t stop hurting or thinking. I feel lost and alone. I have physical pain with no solutions.

[suttree63]

Hello Chickenlady, --- This is my take on what you are experiencing ( I'm just an ordinary bloke so see what others have to say too ). I feel that your symptoms are rooted in anxiety issues. When I'm stressed I too can't seem to set my teeth properly ... I also get whacking headaches from clamping my jaw tightly ... and I bite my tongue in my sleep ! And it's all down to various stresses in life. We might not be able to identify the source of the stress ( often it is not one particular thing but many ). EVERYBODY suffers stress. The ways it makes itself manifest are too many to list but it can cause the most extraordinary aches, pains and behaviours to the point were we convince ourselves that the grim reaper is knocking on our door or that we are losing our minds and all of this can be frightening (especially at 3 am and there's no one else in the house! ) With your father being a dentist I'm sure there's nothing wrong with your treatment (braces do make teeth move and can make them sensitive - mine were quite painful at one stage, back in 1977! In todays world we are judged ever more by our appearance and getting that 'Hollywood smile' is probably on top of most young peoples agenda. If you recognise yourself in that remark then you are not alone - but you are probably keen to get yourself looking your best for Instagram etc, etc and subconsciously that is stressing you out. If you still feel like your struggling then keep dropping into this website and we'll all try to put a :yesyes: on your face.