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A few years ago my dentist told me that I grind my teeth (Bruxism) and that my teeth were ground down so much that they looked like the teeth of someone who is 20 years older than me. She recommended that I wear a night guard, which is a mouthguard that is worn during sleep to protect the teeth. The mouthguard would cost hundreds of dollars, need to be replaced periodically (so, more hundreds of dollars), and the worst part was that I’d need to wear it every night for the rest of my life. 

That just didn’t sound like a good solution to me. 

So I started researching the different treatments for Bruxism (teeth grinding and clenching) and I found that the options were limited. Since my background is in biomedical engineering and medical device design, I started imagining other solutions  – and that was the genesis of Zerene – a new approach to managing Bruxism. 

People grind and clench their teeth because their jaw muscles are inadvertently being activated. This can happen during sleep (nighttime bruxism) and during the day (daytime bruxism). The result of that muscle activation is that we wear down our teeth, we may even crack them and cause other problems. Personally, I experienced facial tiredness in the morning – it was as if my body and mind had been in a restful state while my head and face had been talking and chewing all night. I know that many people suffer from headaches, jaw issues, and even altered facial appearance partly due to nighttime muscle over-activity.   

It seemed likely that if we could address the underlying behavior – excessive muscle activation – that we may really be able to bring a new and helpful solution to folks who suffer from this condition. 

With all of this in mind I set about inventing and creating a few prototypes to address unwanted jaw muscle activation. The first few prototypes

 were bulky and inconvenient to use, though they reported data that suggested that training away from bruxism may be possible.  Within a few iterations, I’d created something that seemed to work for me.

Because the device collects data about my Bruxism as I sleep I could see the changes that were happening. Just as I’d previously been inadvertently activating my jaw muscles in my sleep, I was now during that same sleep learning to relax those muscles, and I could see proof of that in the data. That’s helpful because, since the jaw muscle activation doesn’t happen consciously, it could be difficult to accurately report changes just based on a feeling. I realized that the data that the Zerene device collects is a valuable tool to help people understand their teeth grinding/clenching and to figure out how best to manage it.

At this point I was really excited about the results and ready to see if they could be replicated with others. I reached out to family and friends old and new, even some I hadn’t connected with in years to see if any of them had been dealing with Bruxism. I was shocked by how many of them responded that they’d struggled with teeth grinding/clenching as well. And many of them had invested hundreds of dollars into mouthguards that in many cases weren’t being used. People seemed to feel guilty about having made an investment to treat this problem and then not actually using it. And I could relate – I hadn’t been excited about my dentist’s proposed solution to my Bruxism and that’s what had inspired me to invent Zerene. 

Fast forward thousands of hours of development to continually refine the Zerene device and its use by people who have Bruxism. 

Personally I’ve used Zerene and it’s been a delight to have real restful sleep for my face muscles as well as for my mind and the rest

of my body. Before this, whenever I’d wake up my jaw and face would be achy. Since I’ve been using Zerene I have a lightness to my face which I haven’t really felt before. I noticed my jaw just feeling open instead of like a closed feature of my head. This training has brought my awareness to my jaw and its activation. Yes, the data shows that at night I don’t clench and grind my teeth as frequently, but also I now recognize when I do it even during the day. Before creating and using Zerene that behavior was largely invisible to me. But now I notice it even just driving – I notice now that my jaw is relaxed and it’s very different. Previously I would have been driving with my teeth touching each other. This is not only helping to save and protect my teeth and jaw at all hours of the day, it is also helping me to be more aware of my own body and muscles and that awareness helps me to have a greater sense of agency – it is very motivating to be able to identify a problem and actively solve it myself!

So I wonder – right now, while you’re reading this – has your jaw been relaxed? Have your upper and lower teeth been pressed up against each other or a bit separated? If you found that your jaw is holding tension and/or that your teeth are touching, then you might want to give Zerene a try!

With Zerene, I want to give people an opportunity to have the best sleep they’ve ever had in their life. That is a big statement but I think most folks who clench and grind their teeth may not realize that that muscle activation actually disturbs their sleep and makes it less restful. They may not realize that their sleep could be so much better. I also want to give people an opportunity to learn more about themselves and give them the tools to have better awareness about what their body is doing when they may not necessarily be aware of it. I know there are people who suffer greatly with Bruxism and who believe that there’s nothing that can improve their situation. I want them to explore training with Zerene – the data they receive will empower them and the training may help them to relax their jaw muscles.

Arash Sabet, Founder