Tooth Grinding

Grinding, clenching, bruxing-many different names for a problem that can have severe detrimental effects on your teeth. Many of you may have been told by your dentist, "you're a tooth grinder!" and to that you might have answered, "what can I do?" or "why does that matter?"

First let's establish what this problem is. It is the forceful movement of your lower jaw into your upper jaw and then the subsequent grinding of teeth together, usually done during sleep.

Signs and symptoms can include (but are not limited to): wearing of teeth, breaking of teeth, sensitive teeth, loose teeth, fracture lines in teeth, waking up with headaches, facial muscle soreness, TMJ pain or tenderness, and various periodontal issues.

Finding a solution to this problem and correcting it can be tricky. The etiology can be dental, musculo-skeletal, or even stress. Many times bruxing is the result of a mild combination of all these factors which leads to a rather LARGE problem. Having a bite that is off or a slight skeletal discrepancy is not so bad but mix in the stresses of daily life (ie. job, family, etc) and you can wake up in the morning feeling like you were chewing a pack of Trident all night. It is important to find a professional to evaluate you and see what the cause of your tooth grinding is.

Many times reducing stress can improve the symptoms. However, you may find that visiting your local dental care provider and having your bite evaluated and adjusted or using a nightguard can alleviate the problem completely.

Bruxing will ultimately affect the longevity of your teeth. We as a society are living longer lives, having healthier teeth can influence the overall quality of life . Remember, if you take care of your teeth now, they'll take care of you later.

For further information about this please contact your dental professional.