Do you grind your teeth during sleep (bruxism)? It may be caused by porn addiction.

Jangchub · Nov 9, 2020

Hi everyone,

I suffer from teeth grinding and clenching during sleep. It's causing damage to my teeth, muscle pain in the jaw and dentist bills. I have started to research this and came across some interesting research that points to disrupted dopamine function in the pre frontal cortex as a cause or related phenomenon. Teeth grinding seems to be common among ecstacy, MDMA etc users. Those substances alter the dopamine cycle. Just as porn addiction does. I'm curious to hear from you guys whether your teeth grinding / clenching started after your addiction set in. And hopefully from recovered addicts: did your teeth grinding lessen over time? See:

A wiring problem in the brain of bruxers.
According to Shetty, et al., disturbances in the central neurotransmitter system may be involved in the etiology of the bruxism. The direct and indirect pathways of the basal ganglion, a group of five subcortical nuclei that are involved in the coordination of movements may be disturbed in bruxers. The direct output pathway goes directly from the stratum to the thalamus from where afferent signals project to the cerebral cortex. The indirect pathway passes by several other nuclei before reaching it to the thalamus. If there is imbalance between both the pathways, movement disorders result like Parkinson’s disease. The imbalance occurs with the disturbances in the dopamine mediated transmission of action potential. In case of bruxism there may be an imbalance in both the pathways. Acute use of dopamine precursors like L-dopa inhibits bruxism activity and chronic long term use of L-dopa results in increased bruxism activity. SSRIs (serotonin reuptake inhibitors) such as Prozac exert an indirect influence on the dopaminergic system and may cause bruxism after long-term use. In such cases, the increase in bruxing activity can be mediated by lowering the dose of the SSRIs or by using Buspirone in addition to the SSRI. Amphetamine which increases the dopamine concentration by facilitating its release also has been observed to increase bruxism. Nicotine stimulates central dopaminergic activities. This may explain the finding that cigarette smokers report bruxism two times more than the non-smokers and reports of strong evidence that children exposed to second hand smoke affecting their respiratory system have a much higher incidence of bruxism.
Click to expand...

And:
https://www.vice.com/en/article/d3kz9m/mdma-ecstasy-makes-you-grind-your-teeth
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0967586804002280

Mr. Kruger · Nov 10, 2020

I used to frequently wake up with a sore jaw and neck muscles back when I was a PMO addict. I notice that this is something that stopped about a year ago. Maybe the two are connected.

Jangchub · Nov 10, 2020

Mr. Kruger said: ↑

I used to frequently wake up with a sore jaw and neck muscles back when I was a PMO addict. I notice that this is something that stopped about a year ago. Maybe the two are connected.
Click to expand...

Awesome feedback Mr. Kruger! Thank you! I hope my symptoms too will lessen over time. I have a dentist appointment tomorrow...

WingsOfFreedom · Nov 10, 2020

A dentist first mentioned this to me around 2-3 years ago. I have to sleep with a night guard (which I typically grind down into nothing in around a month)

It definitely could be related. Thanks for the info!

Jangchub · Nov 11, 2020

Hey WingOfFreedom, thank you for sharing this! I too have to wear a night guard. It looks like we're on to something here.

I'm hoping to hear from more people. For those who rebooted successfully: did your teeth grinding stop / diminish?

Jangchub · Nov 12, 2020

Today I'm having a molar extracted for the 2nd time this year. I bit it in half during the night. I'm scared how this will end if I don't find a solution...

Mistersofty · Nov 12, 2020

I’ve been grinding my teeth for pretty much all my life. I think it has a lot to do with daytime stress. Also heard it could have something to to with the way your teeth/jaw is structured. I don’t think that it is directly related to porn use.

Jangchub · Nov 13, 2020

Hi Mistersofty, maybe it is linked to different causes for different people. In my life the really stressful times don't seem to align with the teeth clenching. The past 2 years my addiction has gotten out of control along with the dental problems. But other than that my life has never been more peaceful.

Icarius · Jan 30, 2022

Hi Jangchub,

I clench my teeth every night and I have same problem like you...
Do you feel better today? Have you success to stop porn addiction and clench your teeth at night?

Thank you for your answer

Deleted Account · Jan 31, 2022

Yes. All the time man. At times it drives me nuts. I got a custom fit nightguard but have a difficult time sleeping with it in. So I try massaging my jaw and stretching it.

Icarius · Jan 31, 2022

I understand completely your situation... Have you already stop porn addiction or you are in the beginning? I saw a lot of posts in this forum and on internet and a lots people have this problem bruxism with porn addiction

Deleted Account · Jan 31, 2022

I'm not in the beginning per se. I've been trying for nearly are year now. My dentist said it was stress/anxiety related, which i agree with at the time i was diagnosed with TMJ. said there wasn't much I could do about it accept have him make a custom nightguard or surgery

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Do you grind your teeth during sleep (bruxism)? It may be caused by porn addiction.

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