Teeth Grinding Can Be Much Worse for You Than Most People Realize

If you’ve observed that your jaw hurts and feels tight both throughout the day and at night, you may suffer from bruxism, often known as teeth grinding. When you are awake or asleep, you could unintentionally clench or grind your teeth. Some people might be unaware that they grind their teeth until serious issues arise. Stress, habit, an irregular bite, missing teeth, or crooked teeth can all lead to teeth grinding.

How can grinding your teeth impact your health?

If you grind your teeth often, it can have a negative effect on your overall health in addition to your teeth. Health problems could include flattened, chipped, or fractured teeth, enamel erosion with time, painful and sensitive teeth, muscular soreness in the jaw, damage to the jawbone, unusual bite, and headaches.

Chronic teeth grinding can sometimes cause such significant tooth wear that restoring your teeth may involve extensive dental work. Bridges, crowns, root canals, and even dental implants may be included in these significant dental treatments to replace missing teeth. Severe teeth grinding can alter the appearance of your face and jaw in addition to causing damage to your teeth. More than simply your teeth are affected by chronic tooth grinding.

What can I do to quit grinding my teeth, and how?

Visit your dentist right away if you have any of the symptoms mentioned above. To prevent your teeth from being damaged by teeth grinding, have your dentist properly fit you with a mouth guard. When sleeping, the mouth guard is worn.

Ask your dentist for advice on how to cope with stress if it is causing you to grind your teeth. You can stop grinding your teeth by working out and going to stress management classes. Reduce your intake of coffee and alcohol, and avoid or drink less of it. Alcohol and caffeine use can cause tooth grinding, according to studies.

To modify negative behavioral patterns, deliberately practice proper mouth and jaw alignment. To position your mouth and jaw correctly, ask your dentist to demonstrate.

Treatment for teeth grinding can be successful if the cause is identified. Wearing a mouth guard, however, can be useful in minimizing the wear and tear that grinding can have on your teeth if the source of it cannot be identified.

If you are worried about teeth grinding, call California Dental Group at (800) 407-0161 to schedule an appointment.