Bruxism: What Is It And Why Does It Need To Stop
Bruxism is a medical condition in which people grind their teeth during sleep. This condition is surprisingly common and affects a large number of people. This teeth-grinding can lead to serious jaw pain, headaches, and even chipped enamel; however, a surprisingly large number of patients don’t go for dental treatment when facing symptoms of bruxism.
It’s important that you seek proper treatment to prevent further health issues and prevent your teeth from deteriorating. Custom mouth guards are commonly recommended by dentists for bruxism, but before you can get those mouth guards, you need to understand bruxism. Here’s all you need to know.
What Is Bruxism?
Bruxism means ‘to grind the teeth.’ It’s a common sleep disorder characterized by a repetitive jaw-muscle movement that results in grinding or clenching the teeth. Generally, bruxism occurs while we sleep, but in some cases, it can also happen when awake. This type of bruxism is called ‘Awake Bruxism.’ Bruxism not only results in severe jaw pain or headache for the patient, but the resulting noise also disturbs other people sleeping in the same room.
What Are The Causes Of Bruxism?
PTSD
The leading cause of bruxism is stress. People dealing with any form of stress or PTSD can end up with Bruxism. This happens because your teeth naturally clench while you’re stressed. While you’re asleep, this clenching can convert into movement and result in teeth grinding.
Anxiety
Anxiety is another form of stress where people feel uneasy and fearful at all times. It follows the same mechanism as stress and results in a clenched jaw that leads to bruxism at night. In some cases, anxiety can also cause daytime bruxism.
Alcohol Use
Psychoactive substances like tobacco, alcohol, or excessive caffeine can cause bruxism. This happens because alcohol disrupts a person’s sleep cycle, altering their neurotransmitters. This leads to stressful sleep cycles leading to bruxism.
Teeth Crowding
Teeth crowding is a condition in which people have a higher number of teeth in a given area. This causes jaw instability, and your jaw might not close properly. When this happens, the jaw muscles clench. In some cases, this clenching can turn into grinding, leading to bruxism.
Medication
Bruxism can be caused by an unrecognized reaction to medications. These drugs mess with your neurotransmitters, leading to stress. This stress is translated to teeth grinding. In some cases, anti-depressant causes excessive serotonergic action, which stresses the veins and causes teeth grinding.
How Does It Affect People?
Increased Sensitivity
Continuous teeth grinding can affect the nerve endings in your teeth, reducing their ability to handle hot or cold temperatures. As a result, your teeth will ache whenever you drink something cold or hot.
Chipped Enamel
Constant teeth grinding can wear the tooth enamel, expose the tooth’s dentin, and make it vulnerable to oral diseases, cavities, and in the worst-case scenario, tooth decay. This is why it’s important to treat bruxism before it causes major damage to your oral health.
Head And Jaw Aches
When you grind your teeth each night, it exerts pressure on your jaw muscles. This can result in throbbing jaw and head pain. In the worst-case scenario, if you have chronic migraines, bruxism can trigger that too.
What Is The Cure?
Dental Mouth Guards
Using a mouth guard for jaw clenching is the most common treatment for Bruxism. These guards don’t prevent grinding, but they protect your teeth from getting damaged; however, regular mouth guards aren’t as effective, which is why dentists recommend custom night guards. You can check out our soft and durable night guard for heavy teeth grinding.
Jaw Exercises
Jaw exercises can release stress and strengthen the muscles. As a result, your teeth grinding can reduce over time. The simplest jaw exercise is to clench your jaw and slowly move it forward and backward. This will release built-up tension in your jaw.
Muscle Relaxants
Teeth grinding happens due to clenched muscles. Taking muscle relaxants will prevent your muscles from being stressed; however, you must consult your dentist before taking any muscle relaxant to prevent any adverse effects.
Stress Management
Too much stress and anxiety increases bruxism and leads to poor overall health. It’s a good idea to seek mental health help and take prescribed medication to manage your stress. This will automatically improve your lifestyle while decreasing symptoms of bruxism.
Get Custom Mouthguard For Bruxism From Clear Comfort Night Guards
Most dentists recommend using a nightguard for Bruxism. With Clear Comfort Night Guards, you can get custom-made night guards to manage your Bruxism. Our night guards for teeth grinding are made from soft and hard materials for your comfort at night as well as ultra-thin materials for people dealing with daytime bruxism.
We ensure premium quality and exceptional services to our customers so you can get a peaceful night’s sleep. Although we offer the highest quality, custom-made night guards, our aim is for our teeth guards to be available to our customers at an affordable price. All of our materials are approved by the FDA. So get yourself a custom mouthguard and get in touch with us by visiting our website.
