40 Days of Relaxation - Day 38

Monday, March 7, 2011 - Day 38

Well, I have come full circle on this Relaxation for Tooth Pain journey. I had my follow up dental appointment today. I am not having sensitivity like I was a month ago. I can breathe without the air hurting my teeth, which is pretty nice. But, my dentist thinks I need a mouth guard. A $900 mouth guard. Ugh! She sees signs of wear on my teeth - probably from clenching or grinding - and I have a small chip in the enamel of my left, lower, rear molar which is part of a possible fracture in the tooth. She does not recommend a cheaper Walgreen's version of a mouth guard because wearing such a guard can do funny things to your bite and to your jaw muscles since it is not fitted for your mouth. This makes sense to me. But I still do not want to get the super expensive mouth guard.

On an up note, my hygienist thinks I have excellent oral hygiene. And I don't have any cavities. So, I am going to wait on the mouth guard. I am going to keep up with my awareness building and stress reduction regime in hopes that I can solve this problem myself. On a down note, my dentist says she has never seen anyone be able to break the habit of night time grinding because we don't even know we are doing it. But I am hoping with Yoga Nidra I can be more and more aware while sleeping and be the exception to the rule.

For today's relaxation I listened to James Jewell's entire CD, first the long version of Yoga Nidra and then I followed it up with the short version. I needed the extra long relaxation after going to the dentist. It's hard to hold your mouth open for an hour.