Teeth Grinding Symptoms & Solutions
Surprisingly, most people clench and grind their teeth periodically throughout their lives. In the dental world, occlusal teeth grinding is known as bruxism. Teeth grinding doesn’t usually cause harm to your teeth. However, when grinding happens regularly, your teeth can become damaged, and you may even experience other oral health complications. Below, we’ll explain the symptoms of teeth grinding and treatment solutions to manage this common dental issue.
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What is Bruxism?
Bruxism is a condition that causes you to clench, grind or gnash your teeth and is considered a sleep-related movement disorder. Generally, jaw clenching and teeth grinding are unconscious activities, which can also be a reaction to fatigue and stress. Often, teeth grinding happens during sleep, especially in people with breathing problems and sleeping disorders like sleep apnea. It may also be caused by missing or crooked teeth, or an abnormal bite.
How To Find Out if You’re Clenching and Grinding
Since grinding occurs most often while sleeping, most people are unaware they grind their teeth. Typically, it’s a loved one who hears the grinding at night that notices the issue. Below are a few symptoms of teeth grinding that may indicate you suffer from this dental condition.
Symptoms of Teeth Grinding:
- Waking up with dull, constant headaches
- Pain in the ear
- Discomfort or pain in the face or jaw
- Tired or tight jaw muscles
- Excessive teeth wear or fractured teeth
- Sore areas inside your mouth from chewing on your cheeks
- In severe cases, facial swelling in the lower jaw, changes in facial appearance.
If you’re suspicious that you may be grinding your teeth, the best thing you can do is talk to your dentist. They will check your mouth and jaw for signs of bruxism, such as excessive wear on your teeth or jaw tenderness.
Why Is Teeth Grinding Harmful?
Some patients who chronically grind their teeth may experience tooth fractures, loose teeth, or even tooth loss. The grinding forces may also wear teeth down or cause dentin (second tooth layer) exposure and sensitivity. If these dental problems were to occur, restorative measures might be required, such as a crown, root canal, or implant.
Not only can severe or chronic grinding damage teeth and result in potential tooth loss, it can also negatively affect your jaws. In addition, bruxism can cause or worsen TMD/TMJ issues and may even change the appearance of your face.
Treating Clenching and Grinding
Pinpointing the cause of your teeth grinding determines how the dentist treats the condition. Sometimes your dentist may recommend that you have a sleep study done to determine if you have a sleep disorder before recommending one of the treatments listed below.
Common treatments for bruxism include:
1. A Custom Night-Guard
A custom night-guard keeps the upper and lower teeth from making contact and grinding against each other during sleep. The mouthguard also prevents the jawbone from absorbing the pressure of grinding. A custom night-guard is ideal, because it fits perfectly in your mouth and is made from durable dental materials, unlike OTC night-guards that are one size fits all and made of lesser quality materials.
Not only does wearing a custom night-guard relieve pressure and buffer tooth-to-tooth contact, but it is also a great way to prevent tooth fractures and preserve dental restorations.
2. Orthodontic Treatment
Sometimes, the culprit of your teeth grinding is a bad bite or jaw misalignment. Treating the issue with orthodontics may cure the teeth grinding problem. Depending on the severity of your malocclusion, you may be able to treat your misalignment with Invisalign, or you may need traditional braces and jaw surgery.
Your dentist can determine if your grinding is caused by a bad bite and explain which orthodontic treatment you would benefit from.
3. Stress Management Techniques
People have a tendency to clench their teeth and jaws when stressed, so if you’re constantly stressed, it’s likely you grind your teeth a lot. By dealing with the stress, a person may be able to rid the trigger that causes them to clench their jaw. If stressors are causing you to grind your teeth, discuss options to reduce your stress with your doctor or dentist. Besides providing stress management techniques, they’ll likely recommend wearing a night-guard and/or pursuing orthodontic treatment to avoid damaging your teeth since teeth grinding is an involuntary habit.
A few other ways to help cut back on teeth grinding include:
- Eliminate or reduce the amount of food and drinks that contact caffeine, such as coffee, chocolate, sodas, and energy drinks.
- Avoid alcohol, as grinding usually intensifies after alcohol consumption.
- Avoid chewing on anything besides food—for example, pens, pencils, and chewing gum.
- Be mindful of your clenching during the day.
- Rest your jaw muscles at night by applying a warm compress to your cheek in front of your earlobe.
Although these are helpful ways to reduce grinding, they won’t effectively treat the condition or protect your teeth from damage during the night. When it comes to teeth grinding, it’s essential to seek the help of your dentist to treat your bruxism.
Do Kids Grind Their Teeth Too?
Parents voice this concern often, that they hear their child grinding their teeth at night, mainly because it sounds terrible. So, we get asked this question a lot—is it normal for a child to grind their teeth? Surprisingly, between 15% and 33% of children grind their teeth.
Usually, children grind their teeth during two peak times in their development—when their baby teeth erupt and, their permanent teeth erupt. The good news is that most kids lose the teeth grinding habit after these two sets of teeth fully emerge.
Similar to adults, children tend to grind their teeth at night but rarely result in a problem. However, to confirm no harm is being done, consult with your dentist if your child’s teeth appear worn or if your child complains of pain or tooth sensitivity.
Don’t Let Teeth Grinding Affect Your Smile
You shouldn’t have to live with the pain and discomfort of chronic teeth grinding. However, if you find that your jaws or teeth always hurt, or you wake up to dull headaches every morning, please call to book an appointment at our Kingston, PA office or schedule one below. We want to help find the cause of your pain and put you on the right treatment plan for your bruxism.
