Hi Friends! I'm Priya Mistry, the TMJ doc. This video is about Selective Serotonin Receptor
Inhibitors (SSRI) drugs and how these medications can exacerbate TMJ Disorders. SSRIs are very
commonly prescribed drugs that are used as antidepressants in anxiety disorder, major
depressive disorder, and other psychological conditions. According to an article in Harvard
Health Publishing, 1 in every 10 Americans takes an anti-depressant - that's 10% of us
Americans! 23% of women in their 40s or 50s take anti-depressants. That's a higher percentage
than any other group - by age and gender! For those of you who don't know me, I'm a
General Dentist with a practice in beautiful Portland, Oregon where I work with my mentor
- Dr. Arthur L. Parker. If you haven't already, please be sure to check out my Instagram handle.
I post here quite frequently - probably 3-4 times per week - with a lot of information
on TMJD. So please check it out if you like to nerd out on TMJ information like I do.
So let's get right into it. I want to start out by stressing that SSRI medications can
be truly wonderful and life-changing for people who suffer from depression or anxiety disorders.
I've even taken Lexapro myself and it's helped a lot when I have anxiety. When I was taking
Lexapro, I couldn't even muster up anxiety or anger an my husband - he can attest to
that so it can be incredibly beneficial! I'm not making this video to bash any kind of
medication or anything like that. I'm just trying to put more information out there.
Common brand name SSRIs are Zoloft, Paxil, Prozac, Lexapro, and Celexa, so if you're
taking any of these medications or you've heard about them, watch this video until the
end to learn more. So having said some good things about SSRIs, I also want to point out
that SSRIs are linked to increased clenching and/or bruxing activity. Clenching and bruxing
activity can be 80-100 times or more - even more than that - forceful than regular chewing
forces. Think about that! Think about taking a hard candy and biting into it; that's considered
a regular chewing force. Multiply that by 100, multiply that by 200, multiply that by
80. Whatever it may be, our teeth are not built to withstand that kind of force and
that kind of force can cause our teeth to fracture. In our entire lifetime, our teeth
should not break! Enamel is literally harder than bone! Imagine how much force is going
into your teeth if your somebody who's had multiple teeth crack - you've needed root
canals, you've needed crowns because of that. For some people, it's totally normal to crack
a tooth or get a root canal every single year. I'm here to tell you that that's NOT normal
and I've seen way more cracked teeth since the start of Covid than I have at any other
time in my career, and I've been doing this for 13 years! Our teeth should last a lifetime
without cracking if they're used for chewing and speaking only, and not for what we call
parafunctional activities - like clenching and/or bruxing or grinding the teeth. How
does this even make sense? Doesn't it seem paradoxical to you that an anti-anxiety drug
can cause more clenching and grinding activity when clenching and grinding is linked to stress.
Well, I wish I had a good answer for you. I'm not entirely sure why these drugs are
linked to increased clenching and bruxing activity. What I can tell you is that this
side effect is more common in women. I can also tell you that studies show that increased
clenching or bruxing activity starts within 3-4 weeks of starting the SSRI medication,
and it's been shown to decrease 3-4 weeks after stopping or discontinuing that SSRI
medication. The problem with this increased clenching and bruxing activity is not only
that it can crack teeth - which is a big problem in and of itself - but it'll exhaust and fatigue
the muscles that surround and support the jaw - leading to headaches, neck pain, jaw
pain, ear pain, it can even cause the jaw to lock. I want to be very clear that I'm
not asking you to stop taking your SSRI medication. I'm just asking you to be cognizant or aware
of the side effects that it can cause, and then make the decision that's best for you.
And of course, keep in mind that not all side effects affect every single person taking
that medication. Not all the people that take SSRIs are going to have that increased clenching
or bruxing activity. So that's really it, my friends. If you like what you heard, if
you learned something new, click "Like" below, SUBSCRIBE to my channel, do all the things.
Make sure you ask any questions, make comments, do what you must in the comment box and I'll
be sure to answer.. and remember - you can never have TMI about TMJ! Thank you!