How to Prevent Teeth Grinding
You have probably found yourself grinding or clenching your teeth sometimes. Grinding your teeth occasionally does not usually cause any harm. But grinding your teeth on a regular basis, also known as bruxism, can damage them and lead to other oral or dental complications. Teeth grinding can be a result of stress and anxiety or an abnormal bite or crooked teeth. It often occurs during sleep and can be caused by sleep apnea, which is a sleep disorder.
Since grinding your teeth usually occurs when you’re asleep, many people don’t even know that they grind their teeth. Having a dull, constant headache or sore jaw when you wake up are signs that you grind your teeth in your sleep. Oftentimes loved ones are the people who hear you grinding your teeth at night and let you know.
If you suspect you are grinding your teeth during sleep, consider talking to your dentist. Your dentist will be able to examine your teeth and mouth for signs of teeth grinding. Teeth grinding can cause fracturing, loosening, or loss of teeth. Chronic teeth grinding may cause excessive wear on your teeth all the way down to little stumps for teeth. When there is significant wear on your teeth, you may require bridges, crowns, root canals, implants, and dentures. To avoid these damages to your teeth, there are some prevention strategies you can implement.
How to Prevent Grinding Your Teeth
- Use a mouth guard to protect your teeth while you sleep. Your dentist can fit you for a mouth guard in the office, or you can find some sold over-the-counter at your local drug store. Mouth guards can range from soft easy self-molds bought from the drug store to professionally made ones from acrylic, which is a hard and clear plastic material.
- Relieve stress and anxiety. You can consider stress counseling, start an exercise program, see a physical therapist, or obtain a prescription of a muscle relaxant to help reduce your stress levels.
- Relax your jaw muscles. Try training yourself to not clench or grind your teeth by positioning your tongue between your teeth. This will help with repositioning your jaw muscles and relax them. You can further relax your jaw muscles by holding a warm washcloth against your cheek in front of your earlobe at night before going to sleep.
- Avoid chewing on anything that is not food. Chewing gum or things like pencils or pens can cause your jaw muscles to get more used to clenching and make you more likely to grind your teeth.
Contact California Dental Group at (800) 407-0161 if you have any questions on teeth grinding.
