DIY SENSOR DEVICE ARDUINO VIBRATION AUDIO BIOFEEDBACK BRUXISM CLENCHING GRINDING
Introduction
Below is how I personally hacked a sensor and solved a nighttime clenching habit caused by chewing on Invisalign braces for 1.5 years. This clenching habit caused daily jaw pain, tension headaches and tinnitus. These symptoms all surfaced 1 month after 1.5 years of wearing Invisalign. I was not warned by my Orthodontist respecting the possibility of a habit forming, nor the bite alignment Malocclusion risk .
Options
They’re 2 options for this DIY sensor device I hacked from the device I use as a GoPro video mount. The Arduino tracking device is also designed to respond to any sensor input like a microswitch glued to your mouth retainer. So you could make a whole sleep monitor for under $220. Similar sleep study devices cost over $3-5k professionally. ( I made that number up)
You have to power it, so a Battery is required.
It has never seemed to me like a good idea to have a battery in my mouth so, micro thin wires are required,
Did I mention, There is NOT a medical device being sold here.
In the mission of pain reduction, I have, of course, hacked or ‘borrowed’ advice from others. But before we get started, I would like to mention that a common cause of bruxism is probably stress. So your thought might be to stop stressing and the bruxism will disappear. The problem is that even if the trigger for bruxism (i.e. 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.
Mission Goal Response
My goal of this project is to measure clenches and additionally alert me with a generated vibration or sound. The feedback will then should trigger a Pavlov reaction and relax the jaw muscles subconsciously . If one does not relax they will eventually wake up and re-adjust. The longer you use it the more effective the Pavlov reaction will be.
We also aim to measure if improvement occurs, so the data is saved on a SD card for later analysis and data discovery investigation for a correlation. A baseline measurement has to be performed, which is simply using in “silent mode” (no response feedback) saving the measured data.
Make sure you’re using a quality heat tracking device like FitBit to monitor sleep data.
the hack
(Google, the Arduino Forum and the Adafruit Forum are your friends)
First purchase and assemble a Feather 32U4 Arduino Bluefruit, a Featherwing adalogger (data logger), 2 waterproof pressure sensitive momentary switches, a Featherwing protoboard and the Myoware kit for EMG if needed, r x 3 resistors (x1 30 Ohm and x2 10k)
Order 3V Micro Motor (Vibration Feedback Device) Basically a cell phone vibrator.
Essential Tip – The resistors will prevent you from drawing too much power to the vibration motor, if you did that you’ll fry the $30 Computer (Feather 32U4 or like)
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. you have 3 boards stacked now.
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.
For the Myoware EMG Addition – Wire the Myoware sensor board to a Pin on the Feather ( it’s in code)
Upload Arduino IDE Sketch Program Code to Feather32U4
Essential Tip – 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 heartrate FitBit to monitor sleep with (the FitBit Ionic Rocks or an old Surge), you ‘ll need to connect to FitbitTBit API to get all nightly data. I’ll have a tutorial soon on that.
Compare CSV Fitbit Sleep Data with your sensor Clench events. Learn what’s going on. Adjust your feedback as necessary,
Essential Tip – Make sure SD card is seated in, charged well, and use gentle fabric tape to secure during the night.
For the Myoware EMG Sensor Option – After experimenting with your sensor values and pad placement adjust the Myoware Code to alert you when you clench. This may take some time to get right.
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.
Essential Tip- Do breathing and jaw stretching exercises before bed, Ice if possible.
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 or vape, breathing exercises, or whatever 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.
More on my Story
After a diagnosis from 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. Small bursts but still caused micro trauma to my master and pterygoid muscles. 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.
I’ve tried every Bruxism mouth guard.
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.
Links
What is Bruxism?
What is a Pavlov Reaction?
https://www.simplypsychology.org/pavlov.html
Credits
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
SleepGuard
I have used this commercial clenching headband product and have a review here. I could not hear or got used to the sound because of my tinnitus.
http://mysleepguard.com/sg-international/
Disclaimer – No Human use Medical device or warranted medical product is being sold here.
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.