Constantly rubbing tongue against teeth

[Chuck]

@ForeverInDreams , thanks for posting. The orthodontic wax has been a Godsend. I’ve only been using it for a few days and while it has arrested the annoying symptom, I’m still not sure if it has actually stopped the problem.

Still, it is an easy fix; simple, inexpensive and accessible.

Thanks, again.

 

[toothfairy]

I have been having the same problem for the last month. I had a tooth cleaning and from then on I always have the feeling that I have something in my front bottom teeth. Brushing and flossing doesn't solve anything.
Is it an imbalance in the saliva that is causing this?
In the last few days, at the end of meals, besides brushing my teeth, I have been rinsing my mouth with baking soda and I no longer feel the urgency of always running my tongue over my teeth.

 

[Foonjin]

A few things I’ve learnt about this since I last posted. I have found the only thing that helps is to chew gum.
I am pretty sure it’s related to stress in my life & some of that is really unavoidable.
It appears it could be related to ADHD which is prevalent in my family however I don’t have enough problems with ADHD to warrant a diagnosis. My daughter & one of my sisters have both been diagnosed.

 

[peggyg22]

@toothfairy and for anyone else who is following this thread or happens upon it like I did just a few days ago by some miracle. Bless you. THERE IS HOPE!

Full disclosure: I am 35 years old and suffer from ADHD, complex PTSD, anxiety, depression, overactive saliva glands AND this bizarre condition that no medical professional wants to acknowledge or help us treat: "mad tongue", tongue sucking, tongue thrusting, "busy tongue", tardive dyskinesia, whatever anyone wants to call it...my case had gotten so completely out of control and was sucking the life out of me, no pun intended.

I suffered a severe blood clotting episode in my brain in July of 2021 which left me in an incredible amount of pain so I, and my army of physicians, dentist, and orthodontist, attributed most of my out of control tongue sucking/thrusting to a coping/soothing mechanism I had developed to help me get through my traumatic ordeal.

NOT THE CASE.

After stumbling on this forum, after googling every phrase I could think of that described my situation with virtually no results, I finally found this AMAZING PAGE and I had read a post where someone had shared where they simply had their ortho put their metal retainer wire back on their bottom teeth. (I had ripped mine out in a fury of tongue madness in January of 2022). This person said that is all it took to stop the insanity. So...I called and made an appointment.

GUYS, IT WORKED! I went and saw a NEW orthodontist this past Monday and plead my case (it's Wednesday night as I am writing this post)...after he reluctantly put it in, IT IMMEDIATELY stopped. My tongue was immediately at peace. No more chaos. No more panic. No more searching for things that aren't there. The wire acts as a barrier and my tongue is content. My mouth is calm, therefore my mind is calm. It is amazing. I am healing. The world is healing. I swear I am lighter and I am smiling more. It has only been 2 days!! And I swear I'm not jinxing myself. This is like, the answer.

At the end of every day before I had my retainer put back in, I felt SO exhausted, ashamed, & afraid of what all of this was doing to the integrity of my teeth, my bite, my jaw...you know the feelings. AND THE migraines, the headaches, the jaw pain. Right now I can only open my mouth 30%. I am having a splint made and will have to wear that for about 3-4 months and will most likely have to have corrective retainers made to fix shifted teeth caused by all the craziness and 2 years of doctors not listening to me when I told them this was a major issue and I needed their HELP stopping. But for now, I have my metal wire back and that is all that matters.

Do yourself a favor and do not delay. Go and DEMAND that they put some sort of semi-permanent apparatus in your mouth because our tongues need a barrier. They (our tongues) think they have some sort of job to do and they are the hardest workers known to man. It is our jobs to give them a security blanket/distraction/guard to keep them occupied and safe or else they will wreak havoc and destruction. You deserve to feel safe and sane and have your peace back. I hope this helps you. Sorry for writing so much. I hope people still read this and are able to find healing. I really, really wish that for everyone here.

And thank you to whoever posted about the metal retainer being the solution. It really always is the simplest one that is best. Isn't that Occam's Razor?

SOLUTION: PERMANENT METAL RETAINER (LOWER TEETH) = FREEDOM FROM MAD TONGUE. DON'T DELAY ANOTHER MOMENT. GOD BLESS YOU ALL. xx

 

[peggyg22]

@Foonjin see my reply/post above. I hope you are feeling better and are able to get some relief soon! Putting the metal retainer back on my lower teeth has been the best decision I have made for myself in the last 5 years. I would highly suggest trying that. They can always take it out! And they can put a wire in without any tension, so your teeth don't necessarily have to be in the perfect "shape" in order to have a built in retainer. Don't let them tell you no. Demand it! I swear to you it's the best thing for people like us!

 

[peggyg22]

@Foonjin it definitely can and probably is very closely related to stress, ADHD and controlling those things can probably help but won't necessarily eliminate issues with the tongue --- our tongues have like 8 different muscles and are connected directly to our brains. They're essentially impossible to tire out. Meaning, even "typical tongues" don't really ever rest. So for people who suffer from our condition, it's really important that we give it something to occupy it's attention - like a metal wire - almost as a distraction, it almost grounds it, centers it, re-focuses it.

I know this sounds crazy. And I am not a medical professional. BUT - I know that I never had this issue when I used to have my retainer in 20 years ago, and then I know what life was like for the past year without my retainer, and now I know what life is like now that my retainer is back in...and I will never live without it again.

 

[Toothersmoother]

I thought I google my tongue rubbing my bottom teeth issue to see if there are other’s like me & I was shocked to see I’m not alone. Wow, so many of us more than I thought. I started having this issue about 9 yrs ago. I had gone to the dentist & he removed plaque off the backs of my bottom tooth & it was slicker than a peeled onion. I caught my self rubbing the backs of them, cause they were so slick. Now I do it unconsciously, could be stressed related I don’t know, but reading y’all’s comments made me feel better. Sorry y’all have this issue like me, but at least it is a thing we all have in common & don’t have to feel alone in. I might try some mouth guards. Is it worth buying them online for better deals?

 

[Smiley8]

@peggyg22 I know exactly how you have been feeling!!! It really does make you feel like you are going crazy!!! Long story short, a wonderful pharmacist listened to me. He suggested a mouth guard. It was the first time I slept through the night in a long time. I now have an occlusive guard that my new dentist made. This all started when I had a molar removed. I am so glad you are feeling better.

 

[Jessimucha88]

I have this issue as well! It first started about 3+ years ago when I had tooth #30 break off and I started constantly rubbing my tongue over it every sec of every minute of every hour of the day and it's become absolutely annoying! I'm terrified of dentist so since those teeth weren't hurting after breaking I didn't go to the dentist until the last couple of months. I had a filling in one of the teeth I was constantly rubbing with my tongue, and just had a root canal on the other. Unfortunately since the root canal (the endodontic did the root canal and shaved the enamel down in preperation for the temporary crown I'm suppose to get on October 31st) after the root canal and the swelling went down I noticed that the tooth had sharp edges so had to go back yet again and have him file them down but I'm still constantly messing with that tooth and it's causing my gums to be extremely sore. And because of my anxiety, I'm so worried this tongue obsession is going to cause my root canal to fail. I started taking anxiety meds, but they don't seem to be helping. Guess I'll speak to my dentist when I go in on the 31st and see if he has an suggestions on how to fix it that it won't cost me an arm, leg and kidney. But this is absolutely annoying and I wish I could force my brain to retrain itself to stop it.

I have been trying the gum it stops it for awhile, but so annoying to constantly have to have gum in your mouth.