Key to Stop Teeth Grinding: Knowing Why It Happens

Waking up after the damage is done is a frustrating experience but this is exactly what happens with teeth clenching. Because it happens while asleep, teeth grinding as a damaging habit tends to remain undiagnosed and hence untreated. The situation literally dawns on the victim the morning after, when he or she witnesses the extensive damage it has done to the teeth and gums. Of course, awareness could also dawn earlier, when the noise of teeth gnashing is loud enough to wake up the bed partner.

But then, aren’t gnashing your teeth normal? Yes it is, but not when it becomes chronic and the effects of such a parafunctional activity reaches a level where it starts to impact overall health and dentures.

What happens during ‘teeth clenching’?

Teeth clenching is known medically as ‘bruxism’. This activity has no ulterior purpose or intention and is purely involuntary. It involves gnashing one set of teeth against the other using considerable force. The pressure exerted is 14 times higher than pressure used for chewing.

Though a lot of people grind their teeth in anger, frustration, etc bruxism becomes a medical problem when it begins to damage gums and teeth, causes other health issues like excruciating pain in the jaws, head, ears and face.

Teeth grinding causes – what are they?

Doctors have divided opinions about the exact teeth gnashing causes. While physicians believe that the activity is due to suppressed stress and anger, dentists think that misalignment of dentures is the root cause of bruxism.

In any case, the following teeth grinding causes are agreed upon:
– Stress causes bruxism in 70% of the cases.
– Some personality types are more prone to teeth clenching. These include people who are over aggressive, hyperactive or over competitive.
– Excessive response to arousals during sleep.
– Wrong alignment of jaw bones.

Are there any bruxism symptoms?

Most of the bruxism symptoms are apparent after damage has already been done. However, some the characteristic bruxism symptoms are:
– Flattened teeth with broken edges
– Chipped enamel
– Extra tooth sensitivity
– Chewed tissues in the mouth
– Jaw pain and earache
– Morning headaches
– Pain in the cheeks
– Indentations in the tongue

Stop teeth grinding: getting started

The best and perhaps the only way to stop is to become aware of the problem. Then you can identify the causes and prevent them from interrupting your mental condition.

Stress being the most common reason why people grind their teeth at night, perhaps some stress-reduction initiatives can help you to prevent teeth grinding. Some traditional stress-reducers are yoga, relaxation, meditation, deep breathing and undergoing Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. Many such techniques can stop teeth grinding permanently.

Drugs to stop teeth grinding are usually pain killers and tranquilizers for the management of bruxism side effects. Use of mouth guards is also common amongst bruxism patients. Such devices prevent the two sets of teeth from coming into physical contact with each other during sleep and thereby prevent teeth grinding.

Learn all there is about clenching teeth at night. Visit Marc MacDonald’s site where you can get important facts on how to stop teeth grinding.

Similar Posts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.