Tracking Nighttime Bruxism Clenching with BioFeedback
Clench count vs Sleep Cycle Graph (when available) will follow Notes - The white line is the total clench count in seconds of both Left and Right.
Now that my switch sensor is working attached to a custom mouth guard I'm able to track nightly (10pm-7am). So now let me explain how I Track Nighttime Bruxism Clenching and how to use BioFeedback.
This sensor is made with off the shelf parts and is not intended to be used as a medical device. If you are seeking information on how to treat a sleep disorder, you should talk to your healthcare provider. The content, learning methods, experimenting information and product you build from information on this page will not construct a medical device. No claims have been made for this content to behave as a medically related disease prevention, habit correction, cure or therapy tool. The hacker/ builder or inventor (that’s you) assumes all liability.
Introduction
Below is how I personally hacked a sensor and solved a nighttime clenching habit caused 1st by chewing on soft Invisalign braces for 2 years. This clenching habit caused daily jaw pain, tension headaches, and tinnitus. These all surface 1 month after 14 months of wearing Invisalign.
It has never seemed like a good idea to have a battery in my mouth so there are wires for one of the options. AND, *hack at your own risk. There is no medical product being sold here.
This hacked device is not an original idea of mine. The way of execution and scaffolded feedback is. I have not simply copied somebody else’s project. In the mission of pain reduction, I have, of course, hacked or ‘borrowed’ advice from others. I credit everyone.
Before we get started, I would like to mention that what I found is the most common cause of bruxism is probably stress. So the thought might be to stop stressing and the bruxism will disappear. The problem is that even if the trigger for bruxism (e.g. stress) is gone, the bruxism can already be a habit and very hard to break. This is especially during our sleep when we are not conscious of the fact that you are doing it. You wouldn’t believe the data of what you’re doing at night. lol. Furthermore, some people simply have some kind of stress in their lives. This might not even be a bad thing, as long as this will not cause mental or physical problems.
For these DIY devices above, I have chosen to measure both the activity of my jaw muscles and pressure inside my mouth with switches to see if I am clenching. I could have chosen to simply measure the clamping force in a mouth guard but this did not seem a good idea to me because having a battery in my mouth, while clenching down. So there are wires sticking out from my mouth in one option, but IT’s worth it and more comfortable then you think.
My main idea of this project is to measure (response-clenches) if I am clenching and alert me with a generated vibration or sound. The feedback will then should trigger a Pavlov reaction, so you (chill out) and relax the jaw muscles. If you don’t relax I will eventually wake up. The longer you use it the better the Pavlov reaction should work. I want to measure if any improvement arises, so the data is saved on a SD card for later analysis and data discovery investigation. To see any difference, of course, a baseline measurement has to be performed, which is simply not using the feedback of the sound and only saving the measured data.
Make sure you’re using a FitBit or Garmin Fenix or like to monitor sleep data.
(Google, the Arduino Forum, and the Adafruit Forum are your friends)
Purchase and assemble a Feather 32U4 Arduino Bluefruit, a Featherwing adalogger (data logger), make or find a water resistant momentary switch, a Featherwing protoboard and x 3 resistors (x1 30 Ohm and x2 10k)
Order 3V Micro Motor (Vibration Feedback Device) , it’s basically a cell phone micro vibrator.
The resistors will prevent you from drawing too much power to the vibration motor, if you did that you’ll fry the $30 Arduino Computer
Install all the proper Libraries in the Arduino IDE Progam for the Feather, SD, and Adalogger Featherwing
Solder the stacking headers and stack the Adalogger on top of the Feather.
Add a protoboard on top of that or a side by side.
Connect all resistors to ground. Send, 2 positive leads to the 2 sensors (switches) and 2 Feather pins to other wires of the sensors (switches).
Wire one positive lead to the vibration motor and one pin from the Feather. (In code) Use plenty, like 18″ of wire so the device can be set next to the bed.
Upload Arduino IDE Sketch Program Code to Feather32U4
Make a protective enclosure case. (Laser, 3d Print, or Amazon) If your precious device gets damaged during sleep, it won’t work. Sadness, trust me.
Hot-melt the 2 sensors to a night guard form the drug store or your dentist or DIY your own.
Buy a good heart rate FitBit to monitor sleep with.
Compare CSV Fitbit Sleep Data with your sensor Clench events. Learn what’s going on. Adjust your feedback as necessary,
Make sure SD card is seated in, charged well, and use gentle fabric tape to secure during the night
Before sleep, tape vibration motor to your ear. It’s small, enough I actually use it as an earbud. Common sense, here be careful if it hurts, adjusts it. You can also buy a comfy headband that goes around your ears and velcros in the back.
Do breathing and jaw stretching exercises before bed, and Ice to reduce inflammation.
Don’t drink 5 hrs before bed.
Then go to sleep (preferably on your back) and let your magic sensor do it’s job of letting you know when you.
Repeat. Whenever you have a good night, repeat again. ( i.e. you worked out, no alcohol or sugar before bed, CBD oil, breathing exercises, or whatever the fck made you sleep great)
Keep track of everything for 60 days. Stop when you see the data taper.
Live a beautiful headache and pain-free life.
My Story
After the diagnose from my 2 dentists then going through 3.5k of TruDenta and 3 retainers, I noticed that I actually still micro-clenched my teeth many times during the day. My bite was aligned but I still had the bad habit. Although it is hard to break this bad habit, what I did worked. Unfortunately, the majority of people mostly clench or grind their teeth at night. Breaking this habit during sleep is somewhat harder (actually impossible..) since I am simply not aware that I am doing it.
There’s also was an expensive Mouth Guard, actually 3.
My dentist gave me a specially adjusted mouth guard that does not let my back teeth touch and I can see how this helps to protect your teeth when grinding but I don’t think it actually helps when clenching since the used force will simply be transferred through the mouth guard from lower to upper teeth (somewhat distributed and thus likely result in less pressure per teeth). So it would be nice to stop the clenching and chill out altogether.
And that is what this Hack is all about.
Get it right, be in control.
What is Bruxism?
What is a Pavlov Reaction?
https://www.simplypsychology.org/pavlov.html
DIY bruxism devices (Luc runs the Bruxism Google Group linked in Missions)
https://sleeptrack.io/2013/04/01/development-of-gr…
https://github.com/lucwastiaux/gc
Instructables
https://www.instructables.com/id/Anti-Bruxism-Device-arduino-Based/
EMG Myoware
This sensor uses EMG (electromyography) to sense the electrical activity of your muscles. It then converts that into a varying voltage that can be read on the analog input pin of any microcontroller.
https://learn.adafruit.com/getting-started-with-myoware-muscle-sensor/about-emg
Disclaimer
The content and the learning experimenting product mentioned on this page is not a medical device. No claims have been made for this content to behave as a medically related disease prevention, habit correction, cure or therapy tool. Keep small parts away from Children or Animals to prevent choking or death. Please abide by all local, national and international shipping rules for handling Lipo Lithium Rechargeable batteries, as well as State DOT, Airport security limitations. Not for human consumption.
The construction methods and medical information on this video and website are provided as an information resource only and are not to be used or relied on for any diagnostic or treatment purposes. This information is not intended to be patient education and does not create any patient-physician, nor teacher-student relationship. I am not a physician and this information should not be used as a substitute for professional diagnosis and treatment. Please consult your healthcare provider before making any healthcare decisions or make any guidance about the specific medical condition. Context Communications LLC (dba hackLAB) shall have no liability for any damages lost injury or liability whatsoever suffered as a result of that your reliance on this information on in this video or website.