Mom (93 with alzheimers) is often grinding her teeth, we've ruled out medication related. We've been giving her gum. Any suggestions?

My mother has been doing this for the last month. She has good teeth and has always taken good care of them. It is a worry, because there is only so much they can take! Anyone saying you should not do anything simply does not understand or if they do, they simply do not care.
A friend of mine is a doctor of psychology. Every time I mention my mum, she asks me at what stage in her life has she regressed to. Questions like, has she regressed to a time early than the existence of her brothers or sisters – ie. Does she know who they are? My mum is now at a stage where she has no recollection not just of her children and husband, not just her brothers and sisters, but of whom her parents were.
I have this one thought about her teeth grinding. Could it be that she has regressed to a time in her life, when she was teething? Could this be that habit locked away in her memories, which is now manifesting itself again as she regresses?
This may make it impossible to stop – How on earth do you remove a reaction to something so deep in someone’s past?

We actually found a mouth guard worked slightly with my Mum (who would grind so hard you could hear the teeth crack, and was wincing with the pain). The issue with the guard was who she would trust to put it in, and could not be used for too long as if she was actively grinding it would rub a sore on her inner lip. We also used a childs dummy, although had to be careful to use a robust one, as otherwise would break off. Also if she chewed it too hard it also rubber the lips on the outside. Before she had issues swallowing, and ground only for a couple of hours a day we found giving her carrot sticks or cucumber from the fridge to chew helped. At the moment she is grinding all day when awake, and we have found that a muscle relaxant only works some of the time, and to get her to go to sleep at night on particularly bad days, we have to resort to a short term strong pain killer that basically makes her so dozy she drops off.

My mom also has dementia. She is nonverbal. She grinds so loud, it can be heard from another room. She can't chew gum because she will swallow it. She doesn't appear to be in pain, and laughs and is always in good spirits. I think it is just another stage of dementia as that part of the brain becomes involved. There is no stopping it. She won't open her mouth for a dentist or mouth guard. She ambulates with assist, so a relaxant is not possible because we are afraid she will fall. Good luck everyone with this awful disease. I understand what you all are going through.

I grind my teeth at night ( I do not have alzheimers). I wear invisalign so that helps a lot, but I definitely have cracked a few teeth because of it. It's completely involuntary and the only thing that reduces it for me is reducing stress (by medication and by self care)

Angel

i'm caring for my mother-in-law who has fronto-temperal dementia. she started grinding her teeth while awake about 6 months ago. its not only damaging to her teeth but horrible...impossible to listen to. she doesn't seem to be in any pain. we think she's actually fulfilling some need or actually soothing herself. rather than candy or mouth pieces try a plastic straw. if you don't mind a straw hanging from her mouth our family has found it works great. she gets to chew away and the irritating noise is gone. the plastic does NOT tear so in her case there is no chocking issue.

My mom has dimentia ,and it been 2 weeks tht she has started grinding her teeth im concern tht she might hurt her jaw and teeth pplus with all tht grinding i figurw she must get a bad headache . Her doctor said it wasnt a side affect of her meds. I massage her head n neck to see if she stops sometimes it does but other times it doesnt ,i feel bad cuz i dont know wat to do it makes me sad too see her like tht and not be able to help her ,plus she has hemorrhoids i figure that could be to since she wears diapers and unable to speak maybe she has an itch . So i change her diaper and put medication on her hemmroids sometimes it work and sometimes it doesnt i just feel she is getting worst with her grinding i hate seeing her tht way .

My mom with Alzheimer's just started grinding her teeth as well. After reading all the posts and hearing everybody's experience with this, I'm thinking and thinking about what could possibly be stressing her out? Can't think of anything? I'm her son and caregiver and trust that I'm the one who's stressed out to the max.
For the most part, she doesn't even know what's happening half the time. A few years ago she used to attend a day care facility 5 days a week while I was at work. There she would often fight with other participants (patients) who were staring at her too long or looking at her the wrong way or for whatever reason, most of the time because of them damn U.T.I's, Anyway, Our lovely primary physician prescribed a low .25 dose of Alprazolam (Xanax) to see if that would alleviate the problem and it did. Yay!! She got to stay! Tonight is the first time since the day care that I have had the need to drug her up but, for her own peace, safety and comfort (and mine) I gave her a pill tonight with some pudding and guess what? I can hear her snoring like a baby on my cam as I write this post. Again, this is the first time in a while that I've drugged her but I think I have found the answer.....Wow!! Now I can take my pill and go to sleep! Good luck to everybody and I suggest this to each and every one of you. Xanax is a Miracle drug.....Lol- Goodnight!

According to the internet; I asked the question about grinding teeth and it says: Stay away from things like chewing gum as it embeds clenching and grinding into your muscle memory. Most of these suggestions work to a point but most explanations seem to be grinding is due to stress related activity or stress about their situation. They may not remember that they are stressed but they start the grinding and it stays with them as a habit that may help while they are doing the grinding. Warm cloths against the face and jaw sometimes help relieve the stress, yoga helps but many dementia patients can't perform yoga, stopping all meds if they are in the end-zone of dementia or Alzheimers should help some as well. Most don't realize they are grinding and won't open the mouth to be examined so a dentist is pointless. At her age, she really doesn't have much longer to grind so I'd just close the door and let her grind. If you have done all you can do to stop it, then try to get a mouth guard to help soften the grinding and give her a valium to sleep, then let her be. What hasn't been mentioned though is pinworms can also cause teeth grinding. If you've tried everything else, may as well try a treatment for pinworms too. An RX for them is usually a one-time treatment but OTC can take several doses so whatever your situation is, try that and see if it will relieve itself that way. Good Luck in finding some answers.

Our mother is in a late stage, and stopping all the medications has actually helped with the grinding of her teeth. She still does it but lighter and shorter episodes. We tried valium but it just makes her drowsy.

I'm so sorry Momsfriend. My mom just passed from end-stage Alz and she too, was a grinder. I'm now thinking it maybe just another stage of dementia. We couldn't get her to stop and like your mom she couldn't tolerate a dentist either. As Mama got closer to death the grinding did stop...and by then she was no longer able to chew. Dementia's are horrible diseases for everyone. I will say a prayer for your mom and you! Blessings, Lindaz

What is finger staring pamstegma? My mom is 69 and suffers from vascular dementia ...she is in the end-stages of dementia and has been grinding for months. We thought it was due to anxiety, put her on Ativan but she still grinds. I think it's due to periodontal disease but can't confirm that. I cant bring her to a dentist as she would not tolerate that. She is bed-ridden and I can't even get her to open her mouth. I don't know what to do. She is also on Risperdal and I wonder if this is a side effect of the drug. She does a lot of blank staring! It's so sad.

Many antipsychotic and seizure meds list a side effect of "tardive dyskinesia" which includes tooth grinding, finger staring, pill rolling and other repetitive movements.

I have a 60 year old brother that has the same issue as lindaz's mom. in-fact my brother has already brook few teeth grinding his teeth. i've also tried everything from gum to chewy candy, but it doesn't work. his dementia is severe and everyday i'm in tears to see him like this. I was thinking of ambesol gel the kind moms use on babies when they are teething would that help? if someone would advise I would appreciate it.

We have the same problem with my mother (she is almost 92 and is in end-stage Alzheimers). This is not a small problem, she grinds with a vengence even when we are trying to feed her. Carol Lynn is right she will not tolerate a mouth guard or other appliance and we are worried that she may break her teeth and then what will we do? She cannot have dental work done, she will not open her mouth, she will bite anyone who puts their fingers in her mouth and she cannot tolerate being laid on her back, with her head back. She is bed-bound and we are worried that she will break her teeth and then be in a lot of pain and we are trying to avoid this. Her grinding is so bad that she can be heard 2 rooms away. We have tried gum and chewy candy...neither have worked...but have wound up in her hair...If ANYONE has an option that has worked for them, I'd love to know.

try giving her gum, that's what i did with my mom, the teeth grinding is extremely annoying!

ferris1: You have obviously never experienced an adult with Alzheimer's grinding her teeth. It is very loud and there is the concern that she will break her teeth or create injuries due to the force of the grinding.

number1 - you are your moms caretaker. You not only have the right but also the responsibility to pay attention to what may become a problem for her.

You're here to get information suggestions and guidance from people who have been there, done that. Please don't get turned off by negative responses.

Keep asking questions with the realization that you know you're not going to be solving every little problem. You can still be coming formed.

I grind my teeth (at night), and I do not have Alzheimer's. It sounds like it is a coping mechanism and/or it is just something she does. Why does it bother you so much? Can't you just let her be and one day she will stop on her own? Stop trying to "fix" every quirk about a dementia patient. It is pointless.

corrections...

as well as ERRODE her roots

doesn't contribute to INCREASING memory problems

The mouthguard is a great idea for an average person but I'm sorry to say I don't think a dementia person would tolerate it for very long if at all.

I had a very good friend who was a grinder and went through numerous appointment with her even to UCLA dental school. ALL of her dentist indicated that she needed to do something about it because it would damage her enamel as well as the road her roots. I am surprised to hear her dentist say that that's no problem, maybe its relative because of her age and the length of time it might take to do the damage, where my friend was only 45 at the time. I dunno?? This was many years ago and they didn't have generic self-fitting mouthguards, but my friends problem was solved buy an expensive custom made unit. She wore it begrudgingly but vocally considered it a necessary evil (the reason I believe a dementia patient would not tolerate it).

A lot of the causes of teeth clenching is worry, tension or anxiety. To try something with no side effects that might be helpful, look into Hylands homeopathic "Calms" - they have a regular and night time (Forte) version. The Forte doesn't put you to sleep or anything, it's just more relaxing than the regular if a person need that. Verify with your doctor about using the product but most doctors today have heard of homeopathy and don't mind authorizing the use of it because they know it's non-toxic and they don't think it's going to work anyway.

A prescription medication that could help, also helps with the anxiety of dementia or Alzheimer's, is Buspar. It's and effective drug and its not anticholinergic, so it doesn't contribute to free term memory problems. Ask the Dr.

Could it be stress causing her to grind her teeth? Has she been to a dentist to see if she has an abnormal bite that could be the cause? There are inexpensive mouth guards that are sold at most grocery stores and CVS or Walgreens. You might try one of these guards to protect her teeth. You might also try to help her relax if stress is the cause. Things like massage would be good. Also some small amount of physical exercise will help with stress if she is able. In general, anything you can do to help her feel relaxed and calm should help with clenching the jaw. Before bed you might try to hold a warm washcloth on her jawbones for a few minutes because this is soothing and stops the jaw from wanting to clench. A muscle relaxer would also be helpful if her doctor will prescribe one.