Bizarre tooth/breathing problem

[IndianSpringsGuy]

Four years ago I broke 1 tooth. Fillings getting old I guess. Next year, I broke another one. Well, fillings are just getting old and needing to be replaced. So there were two crowns. Last year, I replaced the fillings of two more teeth that were cracked so I would not have another broken tooth. Last week I broke one in the back on a steak bone. Made an appointment because dentist told me I had two teeth with slight fractures. Then 3 days later I broke another one in front and called the dentist for emergency work. She took care of the front one and told me it had not shown any fractures in the past. But I lost one half of a tooth! Then then next day she capped the other one. That one lasted one day and the cap broke. Now we are both thinking, what is happening in this mouth? Going to have to get dentures? On Saturday morning, she opened just for me to recap the one in back. We talked at length and turns out that I might be putting pressure on the teeth unknowlingly to beathe better! Her husband had a similar condition where he could not sleep and had a shortage of oxygen due to breathing problems at night. Who would have ever correlated the two? I sure didn't. So now as I wait for the two crowns, btw the front one requires me to go to a specialist here in TW to cut the gums down so my dentist can have enough room to put the crown in place. So we go to eat out and it takes me two hours to chew the food. Tongue and teeth coordination become a problem because I am not accustomed to using two front teeth and two bottom teeth to chew. So, I bit my tongue 4 or 5 times in that restaurant!

Gripe ... gripe gripe!!!!!

So what comes next? Probably an appliance to help me keep the pressure off of the teeth. Who would have thunk it?

If you or your partner snores bad at night, you could end up with this problem as well. Pressure on the jaws to breathe, even during the day. I may have a sleeping test also to see what is happening at night. I know I snore and have waken up before with a shortage of breath. The dentist's husband now has to take oxygen because he deprived his heart of oxygen at night when he was not breathing well. He waited too long.

Interesting, eh?

[FamilyGal]

ISG, I have sleep apnea and one of the main symptoms for me was jaw pain. My jaw clicked REALLY bad. I was clenching my teeth so hard at night when I stopped breathing. Once I used the CPAP machine for awhile, it completely stopped.

Now that I have lost weight, I don't use the CPAP and don't have the symptoms. I know weight is not the case with you though.

Some people have smaller openings in the throat. My husband, for instance, was supposed to surgery to shave off a ½" all around the opening of the throat. But, insurance wouldn't pay for it until he used a CPAP for a year. After watching someone else recover from that surgery, he didn't want any part of it anyway.

I cracked a tooth because of the pressure I was putting on it at night before the CPAP. There are mouthpieces you can buy at Walgreens or wherever now that will help with teeth clenching. Perhaps you should try that for the time being.

[msmichellemiller]

btw the front one requires me to go to a specialist here in TW to cut the gums down so my dentist can have enough room to put the crown in place.
AAAAAAAACK!!!! :aargh4:
Okay, now that I've recovered from that....You sure do have to get a lot of work done and often. If it were me I'd have probably just said forget it and gone for the dentures already! :D <-----dentures. ha....

[FamilyGal]

I thought the same thing MMM. That sounds downright excruciating. I can't imagine the cost of all that treatment as well. Even with dental insurance. Pain the mouth and pain in the pocket book.

[Realtorchick]

hubby uses a cpap to sleep because he stops breathing during the night. If the appliance doesn't do the trick, that might be your next recourse. Good Luck

[howdyall18]

So tell me, how is it being the spouse of someone on the CPAP machine? My hubs snores a lot, and I'm a light sleeper. We do not mix. I just bought ear plugs a WM today and I'm considering putting a pillow over his face and sitting on it if I don't get a good night's sleep soon. I would think listening to the CPAP would be worse, though.

[Wilson]

Seriously, have him try those strips that stick to your nose crossways when he sleeps. They really do work and maybe you won't have to resort to something like the CPAP. You can get them at Walgreen's & such.

[FamilyGal]

My husband says it doesn't bother him at all. I imagine you get used to it since it is a constant hum rather than on and off noise like snoring. It isn't "that" loud really. I hate it though because I feel like Darth Vader.

[msmichellemiller]

We *have* to have white noise in our room while we sleep so we have this mega-air filtrations system in there. I'm afraid when it comes time to move our toddler out of our room and into his own he won't be able to sleep w/o the noise of his own purifier!

[FamilyGal]

We have to have noise as well. We can't sleep without the ceiling fan on. If it is off, it is way too quiet.

Anyone see the movie White Noise? :) (I think that was the name. It was a good movie.)