Do I Grind My Teeth Regularly?

An image of a person with crooked teeth

Do you wake up in the morning and notice wear and tear on your teeth? It is a likely sign that you grind your teeth during sleep. This is formally known as Bruxism.

Bruxism is also known as teeth grinding, or clenching your jaw. There are two likely scenarios in which you grind your teeth, either during sleep or when you’re stressed. In both scenarios, teeth grinding is happening unconsciously when your jaw muscles are relaxed during sleep.

If you think you’re grinding your teeth, you’ll need a thorough examination at the dentist, and at Simply Dental, we are well versed in ensuring we act on any signs of teeth grinding so that you can sleep better and restore a shiny appearance to your smile.

Man grinding his teeth

How Do I Know I Grind My Teeth?

The issue with grinding teeth is it happens unconsciously and when you’re not aware of it. There are signs you can look for to determine if you suffer from teeth grinding. If you locate any of these signs, contact your local dentist so they can identify the root cause and provide the right treatment to reduce it instantly.

  • Grinding and clenching that disturbs sleep
  • Teeth become chipped, crooked or cosmetically damaged
  • The enamel is exposed causing damage to your smile
  • Jaw muscles are tight and stiff when you wake up
  • Struggle to open and close the jaw without pain
  • Stress and headaches

When teeth grind, the jaws collide together causing the top and bottom set of teeth to touch and grind together. This heightens the risk of further oral health damage and needing preventative or potentially emergency treatment.

How Can I Stop Teeth Grinding?

The remedies depend on the root cause of the condition, which the dentist can easily identify. Whilst teeth grinding is not expected to cause serious complications, it may become serious enough to act.

Here are some of the common remedies to expect:

Using A Dental Mouthguard

Dental mouthguards are made of acrylic material designed to protect the surface of your teeth and reduce the strain put on your jaw. You can develop custom mouthguards to ensure the mouthguards fit around the mouth easily for maximum comfort. Mouthguards are mainly worn during sleep.

Reduce Stress

Stress-relief techniques are a great method to reduce stress and anxiety which can cause teeth grinding. Thttps://www.simplydentalchatswood.com.au/can-stress-become-a-dangerous-habit/he dentist can recommend some effective techniques to help reduce tension so you feel more relaxed. It could become dangerous to your oral health if your stress is severe.

Lady showing signs of stress

Perform Jaw Muscle Exercises

Exercises of the jaw muscles help maintain alignment of the jaw. If misaligned, the upper and lower teeth collide together abnormally, and this means that the jaw cannot close properly. Jaw exercises help to keep the muscles street to avoid your upper and lower teeth from colliding.

Checking in with us at Simply Dental will help you and us identify the root cause of teeth grinding to prevent any further damage to your oral health. Contact us here today so we help.

Share:

Comments are closed.