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Teeth Grinding (bruxism)


Charlieswpa

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Charlieswpa Apprentice

I've been grinding my teeth for a while now.I've been wondering if it's Celiac related?

I've been on a gluten free diet for the last 5 weeks and I'm still doing it.I was wondering if I 'am lacking a certain mineral or vitamin?

Thanks


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NoGluGirl Contributor
I've been grinding my teeth for a while now.I've been wondering if it's Celiac related?

I've been on a gluten free diet for the last 5 weeks and I'm still doing it.I was wondering if I 'am lacking a certain mineral or vitamin?

Thanks

Dear Charlieswpa,

I heard this could be gluten related. I think I grind mine as well. I used to have good teeth. All of the sudden, the past few years or so, my teeth seem to be chipping off by the day. I have bad TMJ and my jaw is extremely misaligned. This is a big problem, because my teeth are also really crooked. I know I could have malabsorbtion issues, and lack of vitamins plays a role. I have excruciating jaw pain and headaches because of this a lot.

Sincerely,

NoGluGirl

P.S. If your jaw pops and is misaligned, the dentist can get you a mouth guard called a splint.

jerseyangel Proficient

I don't know if it's Celiac related, but I have been diagnosed (by an ENT) with TMJ. I also grind my teeth at night.

I was fitted for a mouth guard by my dentist. It is small, fits perfectly, and has helped quite a bit. :)

I'm supposed to wear it most of the time, but I only use it at night. :ph34r:

Charlieswpa Apprentice
Dear Charlieswpa,

I heard this could be gluten related. I think I grind mine as well. I used to have good teeth. All of the sudden, the past few years or so, my teeth seem to be chipping off by the day. I have bad TMJ and my jaw is extremely misaligned. This is a big problem, because my teeth are also really crooked. I know I could have malabsorbtion issues, and lack of vitamins plays a role. I have excruciating jaw pain and headaches because of this a lot.

Sincerely,

NoGluGirl

P.S. If your jaw pops and is misaligned, the dentist can get you a mouth guard called a splint.

Dear NoGluGirl,

Thanks for the information.I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease 10 years ago

but wasn't staying on a gluten free diet until recently( almost 6 weeks).I hoping the longer I stay on it,it will make my grinding go away.I heard low Magnesium affects your muscles.

How long have you been on a gluten free diet? Do you ever cheat on your diet?

Thanks

NoGluGirl Contributor
Dear NoGluGirl,

Thanks for the information.I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease 10 years ago

but wasn't staying on a gluten free diet until recently( almost 6 weeks).I hoping the longer I stay on it,it will make my grinding go away.I heard low Magnesium affects your muscles.

How long have you been on a gluten free diet? Do you ever cheat on your diet?

Thanks

Dear Charlieswpa,

You are welcome for the info! I have been gluten free since August of last year, so it has been six months! I cannot cheat, because I have a violent reaction to gluten. I get really nauseated, break out in a sweat, get diarrhea, start shaking, sometimes my hands go numb, and if I am lucky, swallow a Promethazine before dry heaves hit that make me feel like my insides are emploding. Cheating is NOT tempting! Unfortunately, my parents often gluten me because they are not gluten free.

At least, I was doing great for the first two months or so, but I saw my doctor recently who said Celiacs cannot tolerate dairy a lot either, so I am going to have to give that up. I bet she is right! I did not eat dairy the first couple of months at all. Casein intolerance is a common problem with Celiac.

As far as Magnesium goes, it does affect the muscles. You are right. It can cause muscle pain and jerking. I have twitches, but could have Lyme disease even. Until I can afford testing, I won't know much of anything about that. Though I miss a lot of foods I used to eat, I must say I view gluten as poison. I have rewired my brain to think of Cheez - Its and other things I no longer can eat as Raid. That way, I just go right past it and find something I am allowed! It makes it automatic. I do suffer from food lust, though. I had a dream the other night about spaghetti and huge meatballs with ragu sauce! It was wonderful! The first time I ate spaghetti where it could not make me fat or sick! LOL!

Sincerely,

NoGluGirl

Ursa Major Collaborator

I used to clench my teeth so badly that I would wake up in the morning with jaw pain. I also had severe TMJ and misaligned jaws, until I had braces from the ages of 44 to 47. After that I had a mouthguard/retainer. I still have it, but don't really need it now, as I stopped clenching my teeth. It took over a year on the gluten-free diet before I stopped clenching my teeth, though.

I also take vitamins and minerals, as well as desiccated adrenal and desiccated thyroid (because of adrenal fatigue and hypothyroidism, probably related to undiagnosed celiac disease for most of my life). After I started taking those, the clenching started getting better.

nikki-uk Enthusiast
I've been grinding my teeth for a while now.I've been wondering if it's Celiac related?

I've been on a gluten free diet for the last 5 weeks and I'm still doing it.I was wondering if I 'am lacking a certain mineral or vitamin?

Thanks

Does anyone know why there might be a connection between teeth grinding and celiac disease?? - my coeliac son ground down some of his molars so bad he had to have crowns on them :unsure:


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darlindeb25 Collaborator

I think indirectly it is related to celiacs, yet it's the vitamin and mineral deficiencies that cause it and/or TMJ. It's not specific to celiac disease. Celiac disease opens the door for all these other ailments to walk in. I do not grind my teeth, but I do clench my jaw. Used to be only at night, now I catch myself doing it during the day, especially when I am very stressed out.

Charlieswpa Apprentice
Dear Charlieswpa,

You are welcome for the info! I have been gluten free since August of last year, so it has been six months! I cannot cheat, because I have a violent reaction to gluten. I get really nauseated, break out in a sweat, get diarrhea, start shaking, sometimes my hands go numb, and if I am lucky, swallow a Promethazine before dry heaves hit that make me feel like my insides are emploding. Cheating is NOT tempting! Unfortunately, my parents often gluten me because they are not gluten free.

At least, I was doing great for the first two months or so, but I saw my doctor recently who said Celiacs cannot tolerate dairy a lot either, so I am going to have to give that up. I bet she is right! I did not eat dairy the first couple of months at all. Casein intolerance is a common problem with Celiac.

As far as Magnesium goes, it does affect the muscles. You are right. It can cause muscle pain and jerking. I have twitches, but could have Lyme disease even. Until I can afford testing, I won't know much of anything about that. Though I miss a lot of foods I used to eat, I must say I view gluten as poison. I have rewired my brain to think of Cheez - Its and other things I no longer can eat as Raid. That way, I just go right past it and find something I am allowed! It makes it automatic. I do suffer from food lust, though. I had a dream the other night about spaghetti and huge meatballs with ragu sauce! It was wonderful! The first time I ate spaghetti where it could not make me fat or sick! LOL!

Sincerely,

NoGluGirl

Hi NoGluGirl,

When I first got the symptoms of Celiac disease I was very sick like you especially

when I ate dairy.I don't drink milk anymore but still use butter and cheese.The disease didn't really bother me that much lately except being anemic,dry skinned and occasionally diarrhea with clay colored stools.But I know it was doing damage within.I always taken a multi vitamin Centrum which I beleived it has helped me.I'am going to go off this diet in a few months and get retested again to be 100% sure that I have it.Years ago after all the testing I went throught the doctor wasn't a 100% sure

I have Celiac disease.

You can still have your spaghetti and meatballs. There is spaghetti made out of rice that you can use and you can made your own sauce to besure it's gluten free.I feel sorry for you being so young having to go through this.Someday there will be a cure for this or there will be a gluten free wheat.

A another thing is I bought some Tom Sawyer's all purpose gluten free flour on it's web site and I make my own breads,cookies and cakes.You know what's funny? I owned a pizza shop for 5 years.

Have a great Sunday!

Charlie

NoGluGirl Contributor
Hi NoGluGirl,

When I first got the symptoms of Celiac disease I was very sick like you especially

when I ate dairy.I don't drink milk anymore but still use butter and cheese.The disease didn't really bother me that much lately except being anemic,dry skinned and occasionally diarrhea with clay colored stools.But I know it was doing damage within.I always taken a multi vitamin Centrum which I beleived it has helped me.I'am going to go off this diet in a few months and get retested again to be 100% sure that I have it.Years ago after all the testing I went throught the doctor wasn't a 100% sure

I have Celiac disease.

You can still have your spaghetti and meatballs. There is spaghetti made out of rice that you can use and you can made your own sauce to besure it's gluten free.I feel sorry for you being so young having to go through this.Someday there will be a cure for this or there will be a gluten free wheat.

A another thing is I bought some Tom Sawyer's all purpose gluten free flour on it's web site and I make my own breads,cookies and cakes.You know what's funny? I owned a pizza shop for 5 years.

Have a great Sunday!

Charlie

Dear Charlie,

I have some rice noodles I got from the Chinese Market. They are always great. Really, this is the best place to get sweet rice and regular rice flours too. It is much cheaper! I only pay $1 or a little more for what you would have go pay much more for at the healthfood store. Merchants are great about helping you read ingredient labels if you need them to. Normally, they have them in English too, now.

I was tested for Celiac in 2000 and tested negative for antibodies. However, my doctor believes I am Celiac. She has had a handful of patients like me who improved after abandoning gluten. She does not rely too heavily on the testing like many other doctors do. She takes a more common sense approach. I think my biopsy either showed something and they missed it back in 2001,(they missed my gallbladder) or I was just too young to show the damage yet. I am not sure which. You know how you owned a pizza place? I used to work at Taco Bell for a short while as a teen! How is that for irony?

Getting back to bruxism, I have clenched my jaw something awful. Ursa Major mentioned this. DarlinDeb has the same difficulties I do. I need to start taking vitamins. I was anemic at one time, and even now, feel rundown if I do not eat meat. Thanks for the info on the all purpose gluten free flours. I am going to check it out. Also, I have been to the Chocolate Emporium that makes casein free, gluten free cake mixes and candies. Their mixes are great! Go to www.choclat.com to see. They even have chocolate perfume!

Dear NikkiUK,

The connection with Celiac and bruxism is likely the vitamin deficiencies. So many of us have malabsorbtion issues. We cannot get what we need out of food due to the nutrients not being taken in. Muscle tremors can manifest from Magnesium deficiencies, as can heart palpitations. Calcium deficiencies can cause those symptoms too. I know I need to begin taking at least a B-Vitamin complex and magnesium. I want to take a multivitamin, but do not know of any that do not have iron (it upsets my stomach) and are gluten free.

Sincerely,

NoGluGirl

confused Community Regular
Dear Charlie,

I have some rice noodles I got from the Chinese Market. They are always great. Really, this is the best place to get sweet rice and regular rice flours too. It is much cheaper! I only pay $1 or a little more for what you would have go pay much more for at the healthfood store. Merchants are great about helping you read ingredient labels if you need them to. Normally, they have them in English too, now.

I was tested for Celiac in 2000 and tested negative for antibodies. However, my doctor believes I am Celiac. She has had a handful of patients like me who improved after abandoning gluten. She does not rely too heavily on the testing like many other doctors do. She takes a more common sense approach. I think my biopsy either showed something and they missed it back in 2001,(they missed my gallbladder) or I was just too young to show the damage yet. I am not sure which.

Getting back to bruxism, I have clenched my jaw something awful. Ursa Major mentioned this. DarlinDeb has the same difficulties I do. I need to start taking vitamins. I was anemic at one time, and even now, feel rundown if I do not eat meat. Thanks for the info on the all purpose gluten free flours. I am going to check it out. Also, I have been to the Chocolate Emporium that makes casein free, gluten free cake mixes and candies. Their mixes are great! Go to www.choclat.com to see. They even have chocolate perfume!

Dear NikkiUK,

The connection with Celiac and bruxism is likely the vitamin deficiencies. So many of us have malabsorbtion issues. We cannot get what we need out of food due to the nutrients not being taken in. Muscle tremors can manifest from Magnesium deficiencies, as can heart palpitations. Calcium deficiencies can cause those symptoms too. I know I need to begin taking at least a B-Vitamin complex and magnesium. I want to take a multivitamin, but do not know of any that do not have iron (it upsets my stomach) and are gluten free.

Sincerely,

NoGluGirl

noglugirl

I just got an multivatiamin from a health food store that has no iron in them, they are called daily total one with maxi sorb, made my country life. I havent taken them yet tho. Maybe check them out, they are iron free.

paula

nikki-uk Enthusiast
Dear NikkiUK,

The connection with Celiac and bruxism is likely the vitamin deficiencies. So many of us have malabsorbtion issues. We cannot get what we need out of food due to the nutrients not being taken in. Muscle tremors can manifest from Magnesium deficiencies, as can heart palpitations. Calcium deficiencies can cause those symptoms too. I know I need to begin taking at least a B-Vitamin complex and magnesium. I want to take a multivitamin, but do not know of any that do not have iron (it upsets my stomach) and are gluten free.

Sincerely,

NoGluGirl

Ok thanks NoGluGirl!!

Interesting theory! I hope that the longer my son is gluten-free the less likely he is to grind - and if his weight gain is anything to go by in the 5 months he's been gluten-free I'd say he's definitely absorbing better :)

January Flower Rookie

I'm a dentist, and their are actually relations to teeth grinding and celiac diease. I would encourage you to see your dentist and have a night appliance made. I recommend them to my patients who have symptoms with their teeth grinding, i have never had any of my patients not like the appliances i've made. They help alot!

NoGluGirl Contributor
I'm a dentist, and their are actually relations to teeth grinding and celiac diease. I would encourage you to see your dentist and have a night appliance made. I recommend them to my patients who have symptoms with their teeth grinding, i have never had any of my patients not like the appliances i've made. They help alot!

Dear January Flower,

Thanks for the input! I know getting one would help me a lot. Clenching your jaw is a real painful thing. The dentist I saw a while back had me bite down to check my bite, and every time he said "Ouch!" I am thinking "How do you think I feel?" LOL! It turns out, my jaw is so badly misaligned, that the pad that connects your jaw up near your ear is actually scraping bone against bone on me! I bite my jaw a lot as well.

Dear NikkiUK,

Thank you for the compliments! It is complicated at times. Nutrients are something that are essential for everything. We often neglect to think about them. This never is good.

Dear Paula,

Thanks for the info on vitamins. I will see if our health food store has those. I need something. I do not know if I have malabsorption issues or not. I think I might. Fats do not set well because of my gallbladder being out.

Sincerely,

NoGluGirl

Charlieswpa Apprentice
I'm a dentist, and their are actually relations to teeth grinding and celiac diease. I would encourage you to see your dentist and have a night appliance made. I recommend them to my patients who have symptoms with their teeth grinding, i have never had any of my patients not like the appliances i've made. They help alot!

Thanks for replying to this web site !

I was wondering since your a dentist did your teachers( professors) tell you anything about Celiac disease and what it does to the enamel of the tooth? I'm sure if this could be spotted in children

then this could help parents get their children evaluated.I had this when I was a kid but Celiac disease wasn't known back then.Maybe you could check this with your patients in the future.

Thanks

January Flower Rookie

The truth is Celiac diease affects so many people differently that its hard to nail down direct links to the diease and dentistry. We do know that malabsorption is a huge factor in causing dental enamel abnormalities, as well as in people with vitamen Deficiencies.

People with malformed enamel can be also caused by heredity traits, and if you were sick say with a fever for example when you were around the age your teeth buds were forming you can also have a yellowish ring around the base of your back molars. Certain medications can also cause defects in emamel, or medications your mother took with pregnant with you.

The main thing is take care of your teeth, especially having Celiac its very true in saying oral health is overall health!

NoGluGirl Contributor
The truth is Celiac diease affects so many people differently that its hard to nail down direct links to the diease and dentistry. We do know that malabsorption is a huge factor in causing dental enamel abnormalities, as well as in people with vitamen Deficiencies.

People with malformed enamel can be also caused by heredity traits, and if you were sick say with a fever for example when you were around the age your teeth buds were forming you can also have a yellowish ring around the base of your back molars. Certain medications can also cause defects in emamel, or medications your mother took with pregnant with you.

The main thing is take care of your teeth, especially having Celiac its very true in saying oral health is overall health!

Dear January Flower,

I have a question about bad teeth. I had good teeth up until several years ago. All of the sudden, my teeth keep breaking off. Is it possible I am grinding them down? Or, is it the Celiac disease? I never had a cavity until a few years ago. Could it be a product of malabsorption? I am so scared I will lose my teeth!

Sincerely,

NoGluGirl

  • 2 years later...
teethman8318 Newbie
I've been grinding my teeth for a while now.I've been wondering if it's Celiac related?

I've been on a gluten free diet for the last 5 weeks and I'm still doing it.I was wondering if I 'am lacking a certain mineral or vitamin?

Thanks

Hi Charlieswpa,

Have you used a mouth guard for grinding your teeth? I am not sure if it is directly related to Celiac, but I would recommend checking out mouth guards online. I just purchased a mouth guard from the company, TotalGard online. My grinding (bruxism) has stopped and I feel great.

- Chris

daphniela Explorer

I never knew that TMJ was connected to celiac. I got diagnosed with TMJ 9 years ago. The mouth guards do not help. They made things worse for me. The only thing that has helped is muscle relaxers. I have also done accupunture for it and that helped also.

I just read a book about TMJ and it said to keep cotton in your mouth during the day so you don't clench your teeth. Don't do it at night. It is a choking hazard. The book also said to alternate cold and heat on the jaw muscles.

I really don't think anything helps TMJ. It is just something I have had to live with.

  • 1 month later...
SabrinaESQ Newbie
I never knew that TMJ was connected to celiac. I got diagnosed with TMJ 9 years ago. The mouth guards do not help. They made things worse for me. The only thing that has helped is muscle relaxers. I have also done accupunture for it and that helped also.

I just read a book about TMJ and it said to keep cotton in your mouth during the day so you don't clench your teeth. Don't do it at night. It is a choking hazard. The book also said to alternate cold and heat on the jaw muscles.

I really don't think anything helps TMJ. It is just something I have had to live with.

This is me exactly. I was just diagnosed Celiac and I have been grinding my teeth for about 6 years. It has been getting worse. For most of that time I have had a nightguard, and I use that religiously. But still, I grind all night loudly enough to wake my husband, and then many days I suffer from terrible tension headaches that turn into migraines. Migraine medication helps at that point, but NOTHING has helped the grinding. I was just prescribed muscle relaxants, which I pray will help me. This is all on top of terrible joint pain caused by the Celiac.

  • 4 months later...
supernova777 Newbie
This is me exactly. I was just diagnosed Celiac and I have been grinding my teeth for about 6 years. It has been getting worse. For most of that time I have had a nightguard, and I use that religiously. But still, I grind all night loudly enough to wake my husband, and then many days I suffer from terrible tension headaches that turn into migraines. Migraine medication helps at that point, but NOTHING has helped the grinding. I was just prescribed muscle relaxants, which I pray will help me. This is all on top of terrible joint pain caused by the Celiac.

anyone in this thread drink coffee??

im also thinking that other vasoconstrictors may have alot to do with the whole teeth grinding thing i have not had a problem with this for the last few months but recently after a bad run in with some gluten infected belgian chocolates

ive had mouth probs all week and my teeth are sore and the inside of my mouth is liek cotton mouth, very tender. no canker sores thank god (yet anyway) but its back to being a pain.. when i havent had this happen for some time...

then again i havent been glutened in some time either... been doing really well. avoiding bad foods... until xmas time..

Vasoconstrictors:

Amphetamines

antihistamines

Cocaine

LSD

LSA

Methylphenidate

Oxymetazoline

Phenylephrine

Pseudoephedrine

Stimulants

Caffeine

Tetrahydrozoline hydrochloride (in eye drops)

Psilocybin

nicotine is also a vasoconstrictor..

as are most decongestants + antihistamines..

anyone here in this thread using decongestants?? they are probably causing the teeth grinding..thats what im

putting 2+2 together to figure out from my own research...

sudafed? benedryl? ephedrine? anyone?

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      @SamAlvi, It's common with anemia to have a lower tTg IgA antibodies than DGP IgG ones, but your high DGP IgG scores still point to Celiac disease.   Since a gluten challenge would pose further health damage, you may want to ask for a DNA test to see if you have any of the commonly known genes for Celiac disease.  Though having the genes for Celiac is not diagnostic in and of itself, taken with the antibody tests, the anemia and your reaction to gluten, it may be a confirmation you have Celiac disease.   Do discuss Gastrointestinal Beriberi with your doctors.  In Celiac disease, Gastrointestinal Beriberi is frequently overlooked by doctors.  The digestive system can be affected by localized Thiamine deficiency which causes symptoms consistent with yours.  Correction of nutritional deficiencies quickly is beneficial.  Benfotiamine, a form of thiamine, helps improve intestinal health.  All eight B vitamins, including Thiamine (Benfotiamine), should be supplemented because they all work together.   The B vitamins are needed in addition to iron to correct anemia.   Hope this helps!  Keep us posted on your progress!
    • trents
      Currently, there are no tests for NCGS. Celiac disease must first be ruled out and we do have testing for celiac disease. There are two primary test modalities for diagnosing celiac disease. One involves checking for antibodies in the blood. For the person with celiac disease, when gluten is ingested, it produces an autoimmune response in the lining of the small bowel which generates specific kinds of antibodies. Some people are IGA deficient and such that the IGA antibody tests done for celiac disease will have skewed results and cannot be trusted. In that case, there are IGG tests that can be ordered though, they aren't quite as specific for celiac disease as the IGA tests. But the possibility of IGA deficiency is why a "total IGA" test should always be ordered along with the TTG-IGA. The other modality is an endoscopy (scoping of the upper GI track) with a biopsy of the small bowel lining. The aforementioned autoimmune response produces inflammation in the small bowel lining which, over time, damages the structure of the lining. The biopsy is sent to a lab and microscopically analyzed for signs of this damage. If the damage is severe enough, it can often be spotted during the scoping itself. The endoscopy/biopsy is used as confirmation when the antibody results are positive, since there is a small chance that elevated antibody test scores can be caused by things other than celiac disease, particularly when the antibody test numbers are not particularly high. If the antibody test numbers are 10x normal or higher, physicians will sometimes declare an official diagnosis of celiac disease without an endoscopy/biopsy, particularly in the U.K. Some practitioners use stool tests to detect celiac disease but this modality is not widely recognized in the medical community as valid. Both celiac testing modalities outlined above require that you have been consuming generous amounts of gluten for weeks/months ahead of time. Many people make the mistake of experimenting with the gluten free diet or even reducing their gluten intake prior to testing. By doing so, they invalidate the testing because antibodies stop being produced, disappear from the blood and the lining of the small bowel begins to heal. So, then they are stuck in no man's land, wondering if they have celiac disease or NCGS. To resume gluten consumption, i.e., to undertake a "gluten challenge" is out of the question because their reaction to gluten is so strong that it would endanger their health. The lining of the small bowel is the place where all of the nutrition in the food we consume is absorbed. This lining is made up of billions of microscopically tiny fingerlike projections that create a tremendous nutrient absorption surface area. The inflammation caused by celiac disease wears down these fingers and greatly reduces the surface area needed for nutrient absorption. Thus, people with celiac disease often develop iron deficiency anemia and a host of other vitamin and mineral deficiencies. It is likely that many more people who have issues with gluten suffer from NCGS than from celiac disease. We actually know much more about the mechanism of celiac disease than we do about NCGS but some experts believe NCGS can transition into celiac disease.
    • SamAlvi
      Thank you for the clarification and for taking the time to explain the terminology so clearly. I really appreciate your insight, especially the distinction between celiac disease and NCGS and how anemia can point more toward celiac. This was very helpful for me.
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