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Tongue biting. ouch!

Thu, 06/04/2009 - 21:16

This might sound like an odd question but have any fellow 'tongue biters' out there ever discussed the issue with your dentist?  Are there any techniques for reshaping the inside tooth edges to reduce the damage when tongue biting?  Are there any special caps that can be put on certain teeth?  Does anyone use a mouth guard at night to mitigate biting during a night time seizure?

Any tips on reducing the effects of tongue biting very much appreciated.  Tongue biting isn't just physically sore but it's a constant reminder after a seizure that zaps the spirit.  

 

 

 

Comments

Re: Tongue biting. ouch!

Submitted by rikk on Thu, 2009-06-04 - 21:51

hi

i don't know about the ideas.  what i do know is that the amount of force generated during a seizure is enough to break the jaw bone.  maybe a mouth guard would help, but the idea of having anything in my mouth during a seizure is not something i want to do.  it is a common problem,  If you come up with something that works, let us know.   rikk

hi

i don't know about the ideas.  what i do know is that the amount of force generated during a seizure is enough to break the jaw bone.  maybe a mouth guard would help, but the idea of having anything in my mouth during a seizure is not something i want to do.  it is a common problem,  If you come up with something that works, let us know.   rikk

Re: Tongue biting. ouch!

Submitted by Lovebug on Fri, 2009-06-05 - 10:01
My husband, God bless his soul, felt so bad about me biting my tongue all the time that he brought home a mouth guard like the one he used in football back when he played in school.  He insisted I take part in the boiling of it that you have to do to make it conform to your mouth.  I went along with it and then lovingly again explained to him how just like the time he stuck the shoe horn in my mouth (yes, he did do that) this was again not a good idea.  I kissed him and told him that I always appreciate his concern but eventually something will work but this and the shoe horn were not them.

Re: Tongue biting. ouch!

Submitted by 3Hours2Live on Fri, 2009-06-05 - 06:00

Hi Fossilguy,

I've been biting my tongue for a little more than the last twenty years.  Doctors and neurologists
seem to place precedence on controlling seizures than protecting the tongue from seizure damage or
in treating a seizure damaged tongue.  Despite ER assurances that tongues are very resilient in
healing, parts of the back to center edges of my tongue never did heal back together without valleys
and gaps (the biggest one is about 3/8" in from the edge and a little more than an inch long) with
a shortage of taste buds.  From what I've been told, constantly in place mouth guards at night, or
any attempt by other people to use foreign objects to prevent biting during a seizure are dangerous
and more likely to cause additional damages, but new theories are always emerging.

Before tongues bites were a major problem during seizures, and before I was officially labeled with
epilepsy, I had a moderate seizure during my last dentist visit 32 years ago.  As he was pulling my
last baby-tooth when I was 24 years old, and making an attachment to the embedded adult-tooth, I had
what he labeled an intense panic attack with hyperventilation (the witnesses said he looked in a lot
more panic than I did).  After that, the dentist told me I would have to obtain all future dental
work at a hospital so as an immediate emergency response could be made during uncontrollable events. 
I tried to discuss this dental problem with other dentists' offices and hospitals, and later the
tongue biting problems, but as soon as any seizure-like event, previously abandoned dental procedures,
or epilepsy is mentioned, a leper's like pall descinds precluding any appointments related to dental
procedures.  I was given a vast number of explanations for this, but after I ran out of money looking
for employment after university and ending up on Medicaid, Medicaid and cosmetics were cited most often.
I've been told that I should have lied about the problems to get an appointment, and pay cash up front,
but my teeth and tongue are dead give aways as soon as I open my mouth, and not enough cash for an
expensive bribe is still a problem.  After the official Catch-22 of epilepsy, government charity medicine reeks
the epitomes of The Peter Principle, and so I live best with what I can't rise above, which includes
epilepsy and tongue biting, but, at times, the aura is divinely enjoyable.  

Hi Fossilguy,

I've been biting my tongue for a little more than the last twenty years.  Doctors and neurologists
seem to place precedence on controlling seizures than protecting the tongue from seizure damage or
in treating a seizure damaged tongue.  Despite ER assurances that tongues are very resilient in
healing, parts of the back to center edges of my tongue never did heal back together without valleys
and gaps (the biggest one is about 3/8" in from the edge and a little more than an inch long) with
a shortage of taste buds.  From what I've been told, constantly in place mouth guards at night, or
any attempt by other people to use foreign objects to prevent biting during a seizure are dangerous
and more likely to cause additional damages, but new theories are always emerging.

Before tongues bites were a major problem during seizures, and before I was officially labeled with
epilepsy, I had a moderate seizure during my last dentist visit 32 years ago.  As he was pulling my
last baby-tooth when I was 24 years old, and making an attachment to the embedded adult-tooth, I had
what he labeled an intense panic attack with hyperventilation (the witnesses said he looked in a lot
more panic than I did).  After that, the dentist told me I would have to obtain all future dental
work at a hospital so as an immediate emergency response could be made during uncontrollable events. 
I tried to discuss this dental problem with other dentists' offices and hospitals, and later the
tongue biting problems, but as soon as any seizure-like event, previously abandoned dental procedures,
or epilepsy is mentioned, a leper's like pall descinds precluding any appointments related to dental
procedures.  I was given a vast number of explanations for this, but after I ran out of money looking
for employment after university and ending up on Medicaid, Medicaid and cosmetics were cited most often.
I've been told that I should have lied about the problems to get an appointment, and pay cash up front,
but my teeth and tongue are dead give aways as soon as I open my mouth, and not enough cash for an
expensive bribe is still a problem.  After the official Catch-22 of epilepsy, government charity medicine reeks
the epitomes of The Peter Principle, and so I live best with what I can't rise above, which includes
epilepsy and tongue biting, but, at times, the aura is divinely enjoyable.  

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