My dentist noticed some wear on my molars right around the time I started experiencing a bunch of minor issues: xerostomia (dry mouth), excessive salivation (strange to have at the same time as xerostomia), jaw fatigue, teeth clenching during the day, and an abnormal awareness of the position of my tongue in my mouth. These were among the many low-priority bugs I'd filed against my body as I was recovering from chemotherapy.
I started chewing gum to help control the xerostomia, and it became a habit. Over time, I believe I actually strengthened my jaw muscles enough to make the bruxism worse, leading to a vicious cycle of needing gum chewing to alleviate the discomfort from constant jaw clenching. This went on for many years.
About a year ago, after changing nearly everything about my daily routine to narrow down the cause, I stopped chewing gum, cold turkey. I replaced it with Tic-Tacs, resolving never to chew them. After a couple months I gave them up, too. While the bruxism and jaw clenching occasionally come back during times of work stress, it no longer seems to be a chronic condition, and my mind has restored enough muscle memory of what a normal mouth feels like that when I notice it's coming back, I can will myself back into a comfortable state again.
Hard to say whether the gum really was to blame. but for me, when I stopped was when I regained control.
My dentist noticed some wear on my molars right around the time I started experiencing a bunch of minor issues: xerostomia (dry mouth), excessive salivation (strange to have at the same time as xerostomia), jaw fatigue, teeth clenching during the day, and an abnormal awareness of the position of my tongue in my mouth. These were among the many low-priority bugs I'd filed against my body as I was recovering from chemotherapy.
I started chewing gum to help control the xerostomia, and it became a habit. Over time, I believe I actually strengthened my jaw muscles enough to make the bruxism worse, leading to a vicious cycle of needing gum chewing to alleviate the discomfort from constant jaw clenching. This went on for many years.
About a year ago, after changing nearly everything about my daily routine to narrow down the cause, I stopped chewing gum, cold turkey. I replaced it with Tic-Tacs, resolving never to chew them. After a couple months I gave them up, too. While the bruxism and jaw clenching occasionally come back during times of work stress, it no longer seems to be a chronic condition, and my mind has restored enough muscle memory of what a normal mouth feels like that when I notice it's coming back, I can will myself back into a comfortable state again.
Hard to say whether the gum really was to blame. but for me, when I stopped was when I regained control.