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Comment by offsky | Hacker News Reader

About 10 years ago I slept with a headband my dentist recommended that could detect clenching and would beep. It would wake me up just enough to stop clenching. It was horrible sleep but worked after awhile and I stopped clenching at night and didn’t need the headband anymore. I still sleep with a nightguard regardless. Don’t remember the name of the headband, sorry. I got rid of it years ago.

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That sounds like SleepGuard: https://mysleepguard.com/

Did you use it? I couldn’t get it to work previously, but have bought some electrode gel to try it again.

Yes. It worked fine for me and appeared to help a lot, though with a sample of 1 it’s hard to say. I can say that reducing (but nowhere near eliminating…) stress and using SleepGuard ended nighttime grinding many years ago and that SG reliably beeped anytime mouth tension occurred. Arguably the root cause was a bad bite, which I later fixed with Invisalign.

For OP, I’d definitely recommend at least trying it. I’d also suggest a taking a 1-2 month mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) class. Finally, if you get a night guard, try to get it from an orthodontist rather than a dentist. They take much more accurate impressions (often 3D scans now), know more about jaw mechanics, and may have access to more guard/retainer materials (like clear plastic liners).

Thanks, will try it. Called sleepguard.

Why do you use the guard if you stopped, do you still do it occasionally?

Sleeping without my nightguard feels weird now, plus I’m sure the sleepguard didn’t eliminate all my clenching. I have a much less stressful job now so that helps too.

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