Many people occasionally clench or grind their teeth. The medical term for frequent teeth grinding is bruxism. If you don’t grind your teeth very often, it shouldn’t cause any harm. But if you grind your teeth frequently, you’ll need to talk to your dentist for advice.
Why Do You Grind Your Teeth?
Lots of people grind their teeth due to anxiety or stress. This type of bruxism tends to occur during sleep and may be due to an improper bite or missing teeth. Also, people with sleep apnea or other sleep disorders might grind their teeth.
Bruxism Symptoms
Individuals who grind their teeth have some specific symptoms. Some of these symptoms include:
• A frequent or constant headache.
• Sore jaws, especially in the morning.
• Someone close to you tells you they hear your teeth grinding when you sleep.
Results of Bruxism
If you have the telltale signs of teeth grinding, contact your doctor. Your dentist can examine you and diagnose the cause of your jaw tenderness before you get damage to your teeth.
If damage has already occurred, you may need bridges, root canals, crowns, or implants to correct the problems with your teeth. The jaws of people who grind their teeth also develop a painful condition called TMD in their jaw joint.
How do You Protect Your Teeth if You Have Bruxism?
If the stress of your life contributes to your bruxism, your dentist can help you deal with your anxiety by recommending counseling, exercise, physical therapy, or muscle relaxants.
Another excellent way to treat the discomfort of teeth grinding remains to have your dentist make a mouth guard if you are local in Scottsdale or Downtown Phoenix our dentist can help you with that. The mouth guard fits securely over your teeth and protects them while you sleep.
A few other tips to relieve bruxism include:
• Investigating whether you have a sleep disorder.
• Cut back on caffeinated drinks and foods.
• Avoid drinking alcohol. After a couple of drinks, people tend to grind their teeth more.
• Don’t chew on anything that’s not food.
• Don’t chew gum.
• Notice when you grind your teeth while you’re awake. If you catch yourself grinding, stick the tip of your tongue between your teeth to relax your jaw muscles.
• Put a warm cloth against your cheek next to your jaw joint for a few minutes before bedtime. This action relaxes your mouth and jaw muscles.
