Don't look a poker player in the mouth.

Last Wednesday I had my usual dental checkup and pretty much everything was fine, except this:

My hygenist: "Do you grind your teeth at night?"
Me: "No, I don't think so. Sometimes I clench my teeth, but I'm still wearing my retainer at night so I don't think they grind." (sad but true about the retainer)
Hygenist: "Hmmm... Well, you have evidence that your teeth are grinding. Your molars are starting to get flatter, and there's <unintelligible dentist speak> at the base of your molars. Usually this means you are grinding your teeth and you may want to think protecting your teeth."
Me: "I doubt it is at night since I wear the retainer."

Later...

Hygenist: The other thing I wanted you to look at was this wear on his molars. I think he may be grinding his teeth.
Dentist: Yeah, although I think it is more clenching than grinding.
Me: ?...
Dentist: Do you ever find yourself clenching your teeth during the day? Maybe when you are concentrating hard?
Me: Kind of. Maybe, but I'm not really sure when.
Dentist: Well, bring in your retainer at your next appointment and I'll take a look at it.
Me: Ok.

Thursday night when I'm losing pots at $50 NL ...

Me: Darn it... %$&*$%... #$!@...

So, basically, I'm clenching when I lose pots or I'm frustrated... Which is a lot of the time that I play :)

Since then, I've been consciously trying to relax my jaw when I play. We'll see if I can unlearn this clenching thing.

I have to wonder if I'll pay more in dental bills than I'll win at $50 NL tables :)

Addendum: Turns out I managed to chip off a shallow filling between my appointment Wednesday and today. So another visit to the dentist is in my future -- at least she uses a cool laser and has VR goggles to watch movies on.

I blame the guy who caught a jack on the turn to hit his three-outer.